Current principles in the nonoperative management of structural adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Physical therapists routinely identify and manage adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Therefore, it is essential that we maintain a current understanding of both the condition and the treatment principles. This paper includes both a discussion of the personal impact on those left untreated and a review of current concepts concerning the following: the pathological findings associated with structural scoliosis; the prevalence of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; and the evaluation techniques, the nonoperative treatment procedures, and the long-term treatment results for idiopathic scoliosis. The final section presents research topics relevant to the etiology, the detection, and the treatment of moderate scoliotic curves.