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The usefulness of the sum of rotation parameter in scoliosis screening

Purpose of the study

It was to assess the usefulness of the Sum of Rotation parameter in scoliosis screening.

Background

The Sum of Rotation parameter (SR) represents the sum of absolute values of angles of trunk rotation (ATRs) measured with a scoliometer on three spinal levels: proximal thoracic, main thoracic and thoracolumbar/lumbar. This parameter is useful in following-up the patient during conservative scoliosis management, because it documents the global rotational trunk deformity [14].

Materials and methods

In a cohort of 996 school girls, aged 11.0 ± 1.0 years, range 9 to13, the average, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values of SR were calculated separately for three distinct subgroups: (a) ATR: 0°- 3°, (b) ATR 4° to 6° and (c) ATR ≥ 7°.

Results

The SR value was: (a) 0.9 ± 1.2, range 0.0° to 6.0°, N=870, (b) 5.5 ± 1.9, range 4.0° to 17°, N= 94, (c) 10.2 ± 3.3, range 7.0° to 20.0°, N= 32. Normal children with important SR values were identified (SR = 2°+2°+2° = 6°).

Conclusions

The use of SR parameter seems not reveal additional information in scoliosis screening comparing to simple ATR measurement. Moreover, a risk of bias is present if the cut-off criterion of 7° is applied.

References

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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Chowańska, J., Kotwicki, T. The usefulness of the sum of rotation parameter in scoliosis screening. Scoliosis 7 (Suppl 1), O59 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-7161-7-S1-O59

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-7161-7-S1-O59

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