Milwaukee brace treatment of idiopathic scoliosis: late results.

Forty-seven patients returned for examination, X-ray and statistical analysis of the results more than 5 years after Milwaukee braces had been discontinued. The mean curves showed a characteristic pattern of rapid improvement after the brace was applied and then gradual loss of correction during the follow-up. There was no statistically significant variation when the results were analyzed according to initial age, initial curve size, or curve pattern. One-third of the patients lost 5 degrees or less after their braces were discontinued at skeletal age 18. The other two-thirds progressed, with the loss of a degree or two a year until their improvement stabilized in the mid or late twenties. More flexible curves stabilized later and lost more correction. Although the mean overall improvement was only slightly more than 3 degrees there was a range from a gain of 40 degrees to a loss of 26 degrees. The 2 most important findings were the tremendous variation in the age at which stabilization or correction occurred and the variability of end results.