http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2012/...girl-with.html
I have dealt with some very unhappy patients in their late teens and twenties who ended up needing surgery, who were braced for several years, and thought that their commitment to wearing the brace meant that they would never have to have surgery. One 21 yo patient I remember, from New Jersey, had a complete meltdown in my clinic over at Duke when I told her that her curve had progressed to over 50 degrees. She screamed and pounded her fist and told me that it wasn't "fair", and that she was promised that she could choose the brace vs. choosing surgery. Now she was really upset that she needed both, and would have never worn the brace if she knew that surgery was possibly still on her future. I think the brace does help in some cases, but there is some "cost", psycho-social development and family dynamic "cost", that in some cases outweighs the possible benefit. The key thing is to empower the patient and family with the information so THEY make final choice, not me.
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