On date unavailable, commented:

None

On 2016 May 25, Hans-Rudolf Weiss commented:

The subject was: Physical therapy for idiopathic scoliosis! The relevant articles were not cited and personal opinion and 'experience' are not relevant as these do not provide any evidence. Therefore the paper simply is pointless. In evidence based medicine colleagues are guided by evidence based guidelines (1-3) as these are available for long and not by a personal opinion of someone who has never presented or published a relevant paper on this topic so far.

Evidence based 'Best Practice' (the synergy of evidence and Best Practice) is described in a textbook (4).

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16759357
2. http://www.awmf.org/uploads/tx_szleitlinien/033-045l_S1_Wirbensäulendeformitäten_Rehabilitation_2012-03.pdf
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22264320
4. http://www.amazon.com/Schroth-Therapy-Weiss-Hans-Rudolf/dp/3659667951/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428388771&sr=1-2&keywords=schroth+Therapy

On 2016 Apr 18, Kay Steffan commented:

In his statement my colleague Mr. Weiss reduces the quality of the article to current scientific publications on the subject of scoliosis therapy. However, this was not the subject of the article. A collection of current scientific publications does not reflect the common treatment of scoliosis, nor does it serve to guide and inform established colleagues who ask for support concerning the therapy of scoliosis. In the article currently relevant and commonly used physiotherapy treatments are presented. Furthermore their effectiveness is proved by existing scientific work. Thereby, the reference should be based not only on the topicality of the publications, but consists above all of longstanding practice and the experience of the author. The ratio of evidence based and best practice is decisive for a successful therapy, especially in a border area like scoliosis therapy. There is a variety of current work on scoliosis therapy in more or less relevant journals, however the practicality and relevance are lacking in most cases. Common therapy methods have been clearly shown and listed, though surely it would be worded too general for established colleagues if we only talked of "specific corrective physiotherapy". In Germany or at least in German-speaking countries, Schroth’s, Vojta’s and Bobath’s therapeutic methods are currently the most common and best known. Therefore constantly reoccurring therapies were neglected although they were supposed to proof their effectiveness over a longer period of time and should be especially applied by established therapists and stationary facilities.

On 2016 Apr 05, Hans-Rudolf Weiss commented:

I was asking myself how a paper containing ‘experiences’ and the 'personal opinion' only can be published in a Pub Med listed journal...

This paper not at all relates to the actual knowledge of this topic as published in Pub Med listed literature. Meanwhile there is highest evidence for the application of physiotherapy in the treatment of scoliosis [1-8]. As early as 2003 a prospective controlled paper was published providing evidence on Level II [1], followed by a Cochrane review 2012 [3]. Since 2014 there are now 4 randomized controlled studies and one metaanalysis published supporting physiotherapy for scoliosis on level I!

Therefore the paper of K. Steffan is misleading. Even an expert opinion would usually not be published when there is evidences on level I already available.

The latest news on this topic has been published in a special edition:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26769612

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26573167

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26573166

1. Weiss H, Weiss G, Petermann F. Incidence of curvature progression in idiopathic scoliosis patients treated with scoliosis in-patient rehabilitation (SIR): an age- and sex-matched controlled study. Pediatric rehabilitation. 2003;6(1):23 - 30.
2. Weiss H, Negrini S, Hawes M, Rigo M, Kotwicki T, Grivas T, et al. Physical exercises in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis at risk of brace treatment -- SOSORT consensus paper 2005. Scoliosis. 2006;1:06.
3. Romano M, Minozzi S, Bettany-Saltikov J, Zaina F, Chockalingam N, Kotwicki T, et al. Exercises for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;8.
4. Monticone M, Ambrosini E, Cazzaniga D, Rocca B, Ferrante S. Active self-correction and task-oriented exercises reduce spinal deformity and improve quality of life in subjects with mild adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Results of a randomised controlled trial. European spine journal. 2014;23(6):1204-14.
5. Kuru T, Yeldan I, Dereli EE, Ozdincler AR, Dikici F, Colak I. The efficacy of three-dimensional Schroth exercises in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A randomised controlled clinical trial. Clinical rehabilitation. 2015.
6. Schreiber S, Parent EC, Moez EK, Hedden DM, Hill D, Moreau MJ, et al. The effect of Schroth exercises added to the standard of care on the quality of life and muscle endurance in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis-an assessor and statistician blinded randomized controlled trial: "SOSORT 2015 Award Winner". Scoliosis. 2015;10:24.
7. Anwer S, Alghadir A, Abu Shaphe M, Anwar D. Effects of Exercise on Spinal Deformities and Quality of Life in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. BioMed research international. 2015;2015:123848.
8. Weiss H, Lehnert-Schroth, C, Moramarco, M, Moramarco, K. Schroth Therapy - Advancements in Conservative Scoliosis Treatment. 2015.

On 2016 Apr 05, Hans-Rudolf Weiss commented:

None

On 2016 Apr 05, Hans-Rudolf Weiss commented:

None

On 2016 Apr 05, Hans-Rudolf Weiss commented:

I was asking myself how a paper containing ‘experiences’ and the 'personal opinion' only can be published in a Pub Med listed journal...

This paper not at all relates to the actual knowledge of this topic as published in Pub Med listed literature. Meanwhile there is highest evidence for the application of physiotherapy in the treatment of scoliosis [1-8]. As early as 2003 a prospective controlled paper was published providing evidence on Level II [1], followed by a Cochrane review 2012 [3]. Since 2014 there are now 4 randomized controlled studies and one metaanalysis published supporting physiotherapy for scoliosis on level I!

Therefore the paper of K. Steffan is misleading. Even an expert opinion would usually not be published when there is evidences on level I already available.

The latest news on this topic has been published in a special edition:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26769612

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26573167

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26573166

1. Weiss H, Weiss G, Petermann F. Incidence of curvature progression in idiopathic scoliosis patients treated with scoliosis in-patient rehabilitation (SIR): an age- and sex-matched controlled study. Pediatric rehabilitation. 2003;6(1):23 - 30.
2. Weiss H, Negrini S, Hawes M, Rigo M, Kotwicki T, Grivas T, et al. Physical exercises in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis at risk of brace treatment -- SOSORT consensus paper 2005. Scoliosis. 2006;1:06.
3. Romano M, Minozzi S, Bettany-Saltikov J, Zaina F, Chockalingam N, Kotwicki T, et al. Exercises for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;8.
4. Monticone M, Ambrosini E, Cazzaniga D, Rocca B, Ferrante S. Active self-correction and task-oriented exercises reduce spinal deformity and improve quality of life in subjects with mild adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Results of a randomised controlled trial. European spine journal. 2014;23(6):1204-14.
5. Kuru T, Yeldan I, Dereli EE, Ozdincler AR, Dikici F, Colak I. The efficacy of three-dimensional Schroth exercises in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A randomised controlled clinical trial. Clinical rehabilitation. 2015.
6. Schreiber S, Parent EC, Moez EK, Hedden DM, Hill D, Moreau MJ, et al. The effect of Schroth exercises added to the standard of care on the quality of life and muscle endurance in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis-an assessor and statistician blinded randomized controlled trial: "SOSORT 2015 Award Winner". Scoliosis. 2015;10:24.
7. Anwer S, Alghadir A, Abu Shaphe M, Anwar D. Effects of Exercise on Spinal Deformities and Quality of Life in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. BioMed research international. 2015;2015:123848.
8. Weiss H, Lehnert-Schroth, C, Moramarco, M, Moramarco, K. Schroth Therapy - Advancements in Conservative Scoliosis Treatment. 2015.

On 2016 Apr 18, Kay Steffan commented:

In his statement my colleague Mr. Weiss reduces the quality of the article to current scientific publications on the subject of scoliosis therapy. However, this was not the subject of the article. A collection of current scientific publications does not reflect the common treatment of scoliosis, nor does it serve to guide and inform established colleagues who ask for support concerning the therapy of scoliosis. In the article currently relevant and commonly used physiotherapy treatments are presented. Furthermore their effectiveness is proved by existing scientific work. Thereby, the reference should be based not only on the topicality of the publications, but consists above all of longstanding practice and the experience of the author. The ratio of evidence based and best practice is decisive for a successful therapy, especially in a border area like scoliosis therapy. There is a variety of current work on scoliosis therapy in more or less relevant journals, however the practicality and relevance are lacking in most cases. Common therapy methods have been clearly shown and listed, though surely it would be worded too general for established colleagues if we only talked of "specific corrective physiotherapy". In Germany or at least in German-speaking countries, Schroth’s, Vojta’s and Bobath’s therapeutic methods are currently the most common and best known. Therefore constantly reoccurring therapies were neglected although they were supposed to proof their effectiveness over a longer period of time and should be especially applied by established therapists and stationary facilities.