Nighttime versus Fulltime Brace Treatment for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Which Brace to Choose? A Retrospective Study on 358 Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to retrospectively compare the effectiveness of fulltime Boston Brace (BB) and Providence Nighttime Brace (PNB) treatments in moderate scoliotic curves (20–40°) at a single institution and to carry out analyses for different subgroups. Inclusion criteria: idiopathic scoliosis, age ≥ 10 years, curve 20–40°, Risser ≤ 3 or Sanders stage ≤ 6 and curve apex below T6 vertebra. Exclusion criteria: incomplete radiological or clinical follow-up and previous treatment. The primary outcome was failure according to the SRS outcome assessment: increase in main curve > 5° and/or increase in main curve beyond 45° and/or surgery. The subgroup analyses were secondary outcomes. In total, 249 patients in the PNB and 109 in the BB groups were included. The BB showed a higher success rate compared to the PNB (59% and 46%, respectively) in both crude and adjusted comparisons (p = 0.029 and p = 0.007, respectively). The subgroup analyses showed higher success rates in pre-menarchal females, thoracic curves and curves > 30° in the BB group compared to the PNB group. Based on the findings, fulltime braces should be the treatment of choice for more immature patients and patients with larger and thoracic curves while nighttime braces might be sufficient for post-menarchal females and patients with lumbar and smaller curves.