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INTRODUCTION
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a rotational bending disease of the spine that occurs in a three-dimensional plane of unknown etiology and complexity. Scoliosis is defined by the American Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) as a Cobb's method to measure the spinal curvature angle of standing spine X-ray films that is greater than 10°. AIS is most likely to occur in children aged 10-16 years, and the incidence in the adolescent population is about 2-2.5%.1 AIS mainly affects the spine and adjacent soft tissue structures, leading to various physical problems, such as abnormal posture, hunchback, decreased spinal flexibility, back pain, chest tightness, etc.2 As the Skeleton of adolescents is still growing, if the treatment is not timely, unprofessional or untreated, scoliosis will progress rapidly, which may further increase and compress the heart and lungs, leading to cardiopulmonary dysfunction. Severe scoliosis may even lead to high paraplegia, affecting daily life.
At the same time, AIS can affect the physical appearance of adolescents, causing patients to feel inferior, anxious, and autistic. In severe cases, it can lead to mental illness and reduce the quality of daily life of adolescents.3
At present, AIS treatment is mainly aimed at controlling symptoms, delaying or preventing the progress of scoliosis. The main methods are divided into non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment. When the Cobb angle is greater than 40°, the international consensus is that surgical treatment is the first choice because of the poor effect of Conservative management. For patients with a Cobb angle less than 40°, non-surgical treatment is often performed, including exercise therapy, chiropractic therapy, or brace therapy.4 Exercise therapy is one of the commonly used treatment methods to reduce spinal and chest stiffness in AIS patients, including Schroth therapy, FITS therapy, Lyon therapy, Dobomed therapy, and SEAS therapy.5
Among them, Schroth therapy is the most extensively studied and widely used, based on the use of specific postures, sensory movements, and breathing exercises for scoliosis to improve patient movement control of posture. Research has confirmed that Schroth therapy can reduce Cobb angle, slow down the progression of spinal curve deterioration, and alleviate back pain.6
Acupoint stimulation has been proven to have clinical effects on restoring spinal morphology and alleviating musculoskeletal pain.7 Laser acupuncture is a new technology that uses...