The effect of Schroth Therapy combined with spinal manipulation for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Schroth method combined with spinal manipulation treatment in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study performed between January 2023 and February 2024, in which 150 patients with AIS were treated with Schroth method with or without spinal manipulation at Wenzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Patients were classified into a study group and a control group with 50 patients in each group after screening. Intervention effects, maximum Cobb angle, clavicle angle before and after the treatment, trunk rotation angle, vertebral rotation angle, and lumbar range of motion (range of motion for lumbar extension and flexion) were compared between the two groups.

Results: The overall efficacy of intervention in the study group was higher than that in the control group (96.00% versus 84.00%) (P<0.05). After the treatment, the maximum Cobb angle, clavicle angle, angle of trunk rotation (ATR), and vertebral rotation angle of the two groups decreased compared to pretreatment levels and were significantly smaller in the study group compared to the control group (P<0.05). After the treatment, the degree of lumbar extension and flexion in both groups increased compared to before treatment and was markedly greater in the study group (P<0.05).

Conclusions: In patients with AIS, combining the Schroth method and spinal manipulation treatment was more effective in reducing the maximum Cobb and clavicle angles, trunk rotation angle, and vertebral rotation angle and restoring the lumbar range of motion compared to the Schroth method alone.