Author Question: While measuring the height of a 12-year-old girl during an office visit, the primary care physician ... (Read 93 times)

cartlidgeashley · **on:** Jun 25, 2018

While measuring the height of a 12-year-old girl during an office visit, the primary care physician noted a deviation of the girl's spine.

This was subsequently quantified as being a right curve scoliosis of approximately 10-degree deviation. Which of the following treatment options is most clearly indicated?
A)
Use of a Milwaukee brace during waking hours
B)
Surgical correction of the girl's spine
C)
Observation and no active treatment
D)
Use of external rods to correct the deviation

Question 2

A public health nurse has learned that a colleague has been screening for scoliosis during visits made to schools even though such screening is not mandated. How should the nurse best respond to the colleague?

A)
The potentially harmful outcomes of screening have been shown to outweigh the benefits.
B)
Screening for scoliosis has been proven to be inaccurate.
C)
Screening is unnecessary now that we know scoliosis is a benign condition.
D)
The low prevalence and incidence of scoliosis have made screening unnecessary.

AaaA · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 25, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Ans:
C

Feedback:

For persons with lesser degrees of curvature (10 to 20 degrees), the trend has been away from aggressive treatment of scoliosis and toward a wait-and-see approach, taking advantage of the more sophisticated diagnostic methods that now are available. The use of surgery or braces is not indicated with a 10-degree curvature.

Answer to Question 2

Ans:
A

Feedback:

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends against the routine screening of asymptomatic adolescents for idiopathic scoliosis indicating that the potential harms from screening include unnecessary follow-up visits and evaluations due to false-positive results and psychological adverse effects, especially related to brace wear. Screening is not necessarily inaccurate, and scoliosis is not necessarily benign. The incidence and prevalence remain high.