The Milwaukee brace for treatment of scoliosis

Abstract

I N 1946, Btount and associates 1 developed the first prototype of the Milwaukee brace for the nonoperative treatment of patients with scoliosis?, 2 Until that time, a large number of braces and corsets had been used for treatment of scoliosis; the results in most instances were far from satisfactory and in fact were generally so poor that it was almost universally agreed by orthopedists that the only treatment for scoliosis was surgical fusion. Largely due to the ideas of Blount and associates 3 and to the establishment of Milwaukee brace centers throughout the United States, we can now offer many patients definitive care for their scoliosis without surgery. The advantages of the Milwaukee brace are many: I t allows the patient active correction of the scoliotic deformity, it allows freedom of motion and rareIy interferes with social activities while treatment is going on, the cosmetic appearance of the brace when worn under the clothing is not displeasing, the brace can be removed for brief periods to allow skin care, kyphosis or roundback can also be well treated by the Milwaukee brace, and both scoliosis and kyphosis can be corrected at the same time. Ambulatory, nonoperative treatment of the patient with scoliosis requires an interested orthopedic surgeon with specific train-