ED plaster-of-Paris jacket for infantile scoliosis.

BACKGROUND: There are various articles published in last few years which consider surgical methods like growing rod instrumentation and modulation of the growth as a "gold standard" for the treatment of early onset severe scoliosis. We emphasize orthopaedic correction with serial casting as another option for such progressive deformity. The key to the success of this treatment is to understand the strategy and the technique involved in the effective casting.

METHODS: The conventional technique of elongation, derotation, flexion cast (named EDF by Cotrel) is described with some modifications like wedging the cast (gypsotomy) in order to produce the flexion component.

RESULTS: Serial casting with ED casts for the treatment of progressive idiopathic infantile scoliosis is an effective tool for the benign types of curves (Mehta) and spinal fusion was not necessary in two-third of our cases.

CONCLUSION: Surgical option for treatment of early onset scoliosis is not a "gold standard". Orthopaedic treatment with serial elongation, derotation casts remain the centerpiece of this treatment. Each detail to understand the technique must be known in order to obtain the best result.