HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A new study published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine provides the best evidence yet that wearing a back brace will slow the progression of the most common form of scoliosis in adolescents, helping them avoid painful spine surgery. Researchers analyzed data on 242 patients at 25 sites across the United States and Canada. The children were all aged 10 to 15 and still growing, and they all had a spinal curvature of 20 to 40 degrees. The rate of treatment success was 72% among children with bracing. The benefit increased the longer bracing was worn. More than 90% of the children who were successfully treated wore their braces more than 13 hours a day.