Braces help avoid surgery in teens with scoliosis

By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In the first large-scale test of whether wearing a brace helps to prevent an already-curved childhood spine from twisting further, bracing was nearly twice as effective as a watch-and-wait approach at preventing kids from needing corrective surgery. But the study also found that too many children with scoliosis are being given a brace when they don’t need one. Data from the new research may help doctors identify which children need to wear the brace and when it is better to just keep tabs on the child. …