Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

I just sent this letter to the Authorities of the Alberta Health Services. I believe it speaks for all of us in some way or another. Dear Authorities of the Alberta Health Services, Thank you so much for your prompt response on my referral to the Calgary Pain Clinic. I was so pleased to be referred back in October of 2009 to your stunning facility. In January of 2010 I received your gargantuan questionnaire requiring me to tell you not only about my pain but also any suspicious activities I believe my neighbours have been up to recently. Thank god you did because I'm fairly certain the family next door might be passing secrets to Nazi Germany. I don't have the heart to tell them that the war has been over for several years, after all, elderly people need something to occupy their time, and I can't quite understand what 2/3 of your lovely survey actually have to do with my patient care. Fortunately all the back surgeries and chronic pain have given me a lovely sense of humor...

Spine Journal report about the methodology of evaluation of morphology of the spine and the trunk in idiopathic scoliosis and other spinal deformities - 6th SOSORT consensus paper Authors: Tomasz Kotwicki, Stefano Negrini, Theodoros B Grivas, Manuel Rigo, Toru Maruyama, Jacek Durmala, Fabio Zaina and the Members of the international Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) Published: 26 November 2009 Background Comprehensive evaluation of the morphology of the spine and of the whole body is essential in order to correctly manage patients suffering from progressive idiopathic scoliosis. Although methodology of clinical and radiological examination is well described in manuals of ortho-paedics, there is deficit of data which clinical and radiological parameters are considered in every-day practise. Recently, an increasing tendency to extend scoliosis examination beyond the measure of the Cobb angle can be observed, reflecting a more patient-oriented approach...

Trunk Aesthetic Clinical Evaluation Routine clinical tool to evaluate aesthetics in scoliosis patients: development from the Aesthetic Index (AI) and repeatability Authors: Fabio Zaina, Stefano Negrini, Salvatore Atanasio Published: 20 January 2009 Background Aesthetic appearance is of primary importance in the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), but to date tools for routine clinical practice have not become available. The aim of the present study is to develop such a tool and to verify its repeatability. Methods Instrumentation: At first we developed the Aesthetic Index (AI), based on a three-point scale for asymmetry of the shoulders, scapulae and waist that we tested for 5 years. From this experience we developed another tool we called TRACE, the acronym of Trunk Aesthetic Clinical Evaluation; TRACE is a 12-point scale based on four sub-scales, shoulders (0-3), scapulae (0-2), hemi-thorax (0-2) and waist (0-4). Population: Posterior-anterior (PA) photographs of on...