Objective

The “Centre médical & pédagogique (CM&P) de Rennes-Beaulieu” prepares adolescents for surgical treatment of their idiopathic scoliosis (IS). This surgery has respiratory short-term consequences to the forefront of immediate complications. Two years after the surgery, the ventilatory status is correlated to preoperative pulmonary function. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the effects of our preparation program.

Materials/patients and methods

Eight teenagers followed our at home preparation program, including aerobic training, inspiratory muscle training and chest mobilizations during 2 months. The patients underwent 6-min walk tests (6MWT) before and after rehabilitation.

Results

6MWT distance increased by 62 ± 22 m ( p = 0.0547). Forced vital capacity (FVC) increased by 4.73% ( p = 0.0298), the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) by 5.23% ( p = 0.0497), maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) by 28% ( p = 0.0421) and inspiratory (MIP) by 64% ( p = 0.0156). The quality of life has not been altered.

Discussion/conclusion

With a similar population, V.L. dos Santos Alves et al. showed a 6MWT distance increase of 128 m. Protocol was different: the amount of prescribed physical activity was higher (1080 MET minute/week vs 600) and training was directly supervised by a physiotherapist. This supervision limited compliance problems among adolescents. Our program increases the FVC, FEV1 and respiratory pressures. These parameters are essential in the prevention of immediate postoperative complications and are predicting better respiratory function. We did not show improvement in 6MWT distance. A more intensive and directly supervised aerobic training program would be more effective.