Scoliosis-specific exercises: A state of the Art Review.

Scoliosis-specific exercises are prescribed and used by many centers either primarily or as an adjunct to other treatment methods for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis of mild to moderate severity. These methods are often used in Europe and are being used in the United States with increasing frequency. There are few publications about these methods in the spine or orthopedic literature. We have performed a review of the relevant literature from the PubMed database to evaluate the evidence for effectiveness of these treatments. We found no studies that provide valid evidence that an exercise method prevents progression of AIS (adolescent idiopathic scoliosis) in patients during their peak growth period. We report our review of selected relevant efforts and provide a description of many of the available treatment programs.