Scoliosis bracing research regarding Cheneau-style bracing continues to evolve. The German-designed Cheneau Gensingen Brace™ is supported by the following research. Asymmetric scoliosis bracing with the Gensingen has been used in the United States since 2013 with tremendous success. Individual results of cases under management can be found here.
Cheneau Gensingen Brace™
Weiss HR, Turnbull D, Seibel S, Kleban A. First end-result of a prospective cohort with AIS treated with a CAD Chêneau style brace. J Phys Ther Sci. 2019;31(12):983–991.
Conclusion: “The average in brace correction (GBW brace group) was 51.4%. Two of the 28 patients (7.1%) from this group reached or exceeded 50° at final follow-up making a success rate 92.9%. This was compared to the success rate of 72% in the BRAIST study.”
Weiss HR, Tournavitis, N, Seibel S, and Kleban, A. A Prospective Cohort Study of AIS Patients with 40° and More Treated with a Gensingen Brace (GBW): Preliminary Results. The Open Orthopaedics Journal, 2017, 11, (Suppl-9, M8) 1558-1567.
Conclusion: “Conservative brace treatment using the Gensingen Brace™ was successful in 92% of cases of patients with AIS of 40 degrees and higher. This is a significant improvement compared to the results attained in the BrAIST study (72%). Reduction of the ATR shows that postural improvement is also possible.”
Ng SY, Borysov M, Moramarco M, Nan XF, Weiss HR. Bracing Scoliosis – State of the Art (Mini-Review). Curr Pediatr Rev. 2016;12(1):36-42.
Conclusion: “Bracing today is supported by high quality evidence (Level I). Asymmetric braces have led to better corrections than that described for symmetric braces . An improvement of the average corrective effect has been described due to the latest CAD / CAM development. Long-term corrections are possible when starting brace treatment early, at an immature stage and with asymmetric braces of recent standards.”
Weiss HR, Kleban A. Development of CAD/CAM Based Brace Models for the Treatment of Patients with Scoliosis-Classification Based Approach versus Finite Element Modelling. Asian Spine J. 2015;9(5):661-7.
Conclusion: “Based on the fact that in-brace correction (and compliance) determine the end result of bracing in the treatment of scoliosis, scoliosis braces based on CBA are superior to the FEMA and the standard plaster based brace applications.”
Weiss HR, Seibel S, Kleban A. Deformity-related stress in a sample of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) after brace weaning: A cross-sectional investigation. OA Musculoskeletal Medicine 2014 Mar 12;2(1):5.
Conclusion: “Scoliosis-related stress is not necessarily a problem for patients with moderate angles of curvature after brace weaning. An improvement in the Cobb angle and trunk deformity is possible when recent asymmetric bracing standards are applied. Considering the small impact that AIS has on patients’ participation in physical activities and quality of life, a general indication for surgery cannot be derived for treating this condition. Patient satisfaction after treatment in this cohort seems better than in the pilot investigation.”
Weiss HR, Seibel S, Moramarco M, Kleban A. Bracing Scoliosis – the Evolution to CAD/CAM Hard Tissue 2013 November. 2: 5.43.
Conclusion: “Symmetrical braces for scoliosis are outdated. Asymmetric braces allow better in-brace correction compared to symmetric braces.”
Borysov M, Borysov A, Kleban A, Weiss HR. Bracing according to ‘best practice’ standards – are the results repeatable? OA Musculoskeletal Medicine 2013 Apr 01;1(1):6.
Conclusion: “After appropriate training, an experienced CPO is able to provide hand-made braces of standards comparable to the recent CAD/CAM standard of bracing. In principle, the results may be repeatable. Further studies on our hand-made series of braces are necessary to evaluate brace comfort and to assess effectiveness using the SRS inclusion criteria.”
Weiss HR, Moramarco M. Scoliosis – treatment indications according to current evidence. OA Musculoskeletal Medicine 2013 Mar 01;1(1):1.
Conclusion: “There is some evidence for the use of physiotherapy as a treatment for scoliosis. There is strong evidence for the use of hard braces during growth.”
Weiss HR, Moramarco M. Remodeling of trunk and backshape deformities in patients with scoliosis using standardized asymmetric CAD / CAM braces. 2013 Feb. Hard Tissue 26;2(2): 2.14.
Conclusion: “Trunk and backshape can be improved conservatively even with curvatures exceeding 45º and maybe even improve scoliotic deformities radiographically.”
Weiss HR, Werkmann M. Rate of surgery in a sample of patients fulfilling the SRS inclusion criteria treated with a Chêneau brace of actual standard. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2012;176:407–410.
Conclusion: “Surgery incidence can be reduced with Chêneau Light brace (forerunner to the Cheneau-Gensingen) when satisfactory in-brace correction occurs. Clinical outcomes make a difference when it comes to patient satisfaction.”
Weiss HR. Brace Technology” Thematic Series – The Scoliologic® Chêneau light™ brace in the treatment of scoliosis. Scoliosis. 2010 Oct 13;5:22.
Conclusion: “The use of the Chêneau Light™ brace (forerunner to Cheneau-Gensingen) leads to sufficient in-brace corrections, when compared to the correction effects achieved with other braces, as described in literature. According to the patients’ reports, the Chêneau Light™ brace is comfortable to wear, when adjusted properly.”
Weiss HR, Weiss G. Brace treatment during pubertal growth spurt in Girls with Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) – A prospective trial comparing two different concepts.Pediatr Rehabil 2005; 8: 199-206.
Conclusion: “The SpineCor does not change natural history of idiopathic scoliosis during the pubertal growth spurt. The use of the Chêneau brace seems to do so. Oncoming studies with the aim to test the efficiency of braces should be based on samples at immediate risk for progression (only girls with first signs of maturation but pre-menarchial).”
Chêneau Bracing
Cinella P, Muratore M, Testa E, Bondente PG. The treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with Cheneau brace: long term outcome. Scoliosis. 2009; 4(Suppl 2): O44.
Conclusion: “At the end of treatment we observed an improvement in correction around at 23% (p value < 0.05) from the beginning curves, and after 5 years there was stabilization at approximately 15% (p value < 0.05). Our results demonstrate that conservative treatment with the Cheneau brace is corrective for the treatment of I.S.”
De Giorgi S, Piazzolla A, Tafuri S, Borracci C, Martucci A, De Giorgi G. Cheneau brace for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: long-term results. Can it prevent surgery? Eur Spine J 2013;22 Suppl 6:S815–S822.
Conclusion: “Conservative treatment with Chêneau brace and physiotherapy was effective in halting scoliosis progression in 100% of patients.”
Scoliosis Bracing
Weinstein SL, Dolan LA, Wright JG, Dobbs MB. Effects of Bracing in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis N Engl J Med. 2013 Oct 17;369(16):1512-21.
Conclusion: “Bracing significantly decreased the progression of high-risk curves to the threshold for surgery in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The benefit increased with longer hours of brace wear.”
Zeng-Dong M, Tian-Peng L, Xu-Hua X, Chong L, Xing-Ye L, Ze-Yu W. Quality of life in adolescent patients with idiopathic scoliosis after brace treatment: A meta-analysis. Medicine. 96(19):e6828, May 2017.
Conclusion: “In summary, our meta-analysis indicates that compared with untreated AIS patients, those treated with brace therapy have higher satisfaction scores and total scores, and thus, appear to have improved QoL relative to patients treated less aggressively. Thus, brace treatment should be recommended to AIS patient in hopes of achieve a more favorable QoL, and perhaps a decreased long term need for surgical intervention.”
Rigid vs. Flexible Scoliosis Braces
Wong MS, Cheng JC, Lam TP, Ng BK, Sin SW, Lee-Shum SL, Chow DH, Tam SY. The effect of rigid versus flexible spinal orthosis on the clinical efficacy and acceptance of the patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Spine. 2008 May 20;33(12):
Conclusion: “The current study showed that the failure rate of the SpineCor was significantly higher than that of the rigid spinal orthosis, and the patients’ acceptance to the SpineCor was comparable to the conventional rigid spinal orthosis.”
Schroth and Scoliosis Bracing
Kwan KYH, Cheng ACS, Koh HY, Chiu AYY, Cheung KMC. Effectiveness of Schroth exercises during bracing in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: results from a preliminary study-SOSORT Award 2017 Winner. Scoliosis Spinal Disord. 2017;12:32. Published 2017 Oct 16.
Conclusion: “This is the first study to investigate the effects of Schroth exercises during bracing in patients with a high risk of curve progression. The findings from this preliminary study suggest that Schroth exercises during bracing can further improve the Cobb angle compared with bracing alone and compliance is associated with greater benefit.”
In-Brace Correction
Ng SY, Nan XF, Lee SG, Tournavitis N. The Role of Correction in the Conservative Treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. The Open Orthopaedics Journal, 2017, 11, (Suppl-9, M7) 1548-1557
Conclusion: “Braces of high in-brace correction should be used in conjunction with PSSEs in the treatment of AIS. No specific PSSE can be recommended as comparison studies of the effectiveness of different PSSEs are not found at the time of this study.”
Landauer F, Wimmer C, Behensky H. Estimating the final outcome of brace treatment for idiopathic thoracic scoliosis at 6-month follow-up. Pediatr Rehabil 2003; 6(3-4): 201-7.
Conclusion: “Compliant patients with a high initial correction can expect a final correction of around 7 degrees, while compliant patients with low initial correction may maintain the curve extent. Bad compliance is always associated with curve progression.”
Castro FP Jr. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, bracing, and the Hueter-Volkmann principle. Spine J. 2003 May-June; 3(3):180.5.
Conclusion: “Brace application results in immediate positional derotations of the spine in patients with AIS. These positional derotations were maintained only in patients with flexible curves, at final follow-up. Brace treatment was not recommended in patients whose curves did not correct at least 20% in a TLSO.”
