Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a 3D structural deformity of the spine that can cause decreased spinal movement, paraspinal muscle weakness, or chronic pain. Our study aims to evaluate biomechanical and viscoelastic properties of the paravertebral muscles in adolescents with idiopathic S-type scoliosis, static plantar pressure, and stabilometry at the beginning of a physical exercise program and after 3 months. The myotonometry performed by using MyotonPro will determine five parameters (frequency, stiffness, logarithmic decrement, stress relaxation time, and ratio of relaxation time to deformation time). Measurements will be taken at the level of the left/right middle trapezius, left/right lower trapezius, left/right latissimus dorsi, and left/right lumbar erector muscles. Static pressure assessment and stabilometry (length described by the center of pressure, confidence area, and speed described by the center of pressure) will be determined by a PoData device in different testing positions (eyes open, eyes closed, head rotated to the right/left, head tilted to the right/left, and head in hyperextension). We expect to record a difference between the muscles on the concave side and the convex side in terms of myotonometric parameters, as well as differences between the initial and 3-month assessment. We predict an improvement in stabilometric parameters after the 3-month physical exercise program.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is associated with alterations in muscle tone, stiffness, and viscoelastic properties that may affect musculoskeletal function and rehabilitation outcomes. Myotonometry offers a non-invasive means of quantifying these properties, but its agreement across testing positions in scoliotic populations remains insufficiently characterized. This study aimed to evaluate the agreement across positions of the MyotonPRO device for assessing superficial back muscle properties in adolescents with mild-to-moderate S-shaped AIS across standing and prone positions, and to examine positional and side-to-side differences. Methods: Nineteen adolescents (18 female, 1 male; mean age 15.3 ± 1.8 years) with mild-to-moderate dextroconvex thoracic and sinistroconvex lumbar idiopathic scoliosis were assessed bilaterally at the middle trapezius, lower trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and lumbar erector spinae. Muscle tone, stiffness, elasticity (logarithmic decrement), stress relaxation time, and creep were recorded by a single examiner in both standing and prone positions. Agreement across positions was quantified using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and between-position differences were tested with paired t-tests. Results: Agreement across positions was poor for most muscle and parameter combinations. The decrement of the lumbar erector spinae showed the highest agreement bilaterally (ICCs 0.829–0.844, good), and the left middle trapezius showed moderate agreement for tone, stiffness, stress relaxation time and creep (ICCs 0.567–0.649); all other muscle and parameter combinations showed predominantly poor agreement (ICCs < 0.50). Between-position differences were muscle- and side-specific: the middle trapezius differed significantly in all five parameters bilaterally (with higher tone and stiffness in standing), whereas both lumbar erectors showed no significant positional differences. The left lower trapezius and both latissimus dorsi showed lower tone in standing, in contrast to the middle trapezius pattern. Conclusions: Across standing and prone positions, MyotonPRO measurements showed predominantly poor absolute agreement for the superficial back muscles examined in adolescents with S-shaped AIS; only the decrement of the lumbar erector spinae reached good agreement.

Background: High-heeled footwear is widely used by women, yet its systemic influence on spatiotemporal gait parameters, pelvic kinematics, and propulsion across a range of heel heights remains incompletely characterised. This study aimed to quantify gait changes across four footwear conditions and assess the contribution of anthropometric characteristics to observed gait variability. Methods: A within-subject repeated-measures study was conducted with 75 healthy young adult women (mean age 24.3 years, BMI 21.3 kg/m²) assessed barefoot, in ballerina flats, 8 cm heels, and 12 cm heels using the G-WALK inertial measurement system (BTS Bioengineering). Thirty gait parameters were analysed using the Friedman test with Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon post hoc comparisons (α_adj = 0.0083), Spearman rank correlations, multiple linear regression, and Kruskal–Wallis tertile analysis. Results: Footwear significantly affected 22 of 30 parameters. Walking speed was higher in all shod conditions than barefoot (up to +9.2%), driven entirely by stride elongation with cadence unchanged, indicating a general effect of footwear rather than heel elevation specifically. Stride length peaked at 8 cm heel (+8.9% vs. barefoot) and declined at 12 cm. Gait symmetry decreased progressively with heel height. Ballerina shoes produced a distinctively dynamic temporal profile—shortest stance duration, lowest double support, and highest single support time—significantly different from both barefoot and heeled conditions. The propulsion index increased height-dependently with heel height, rising 23.3% from barefoot (8.20) to 12 cm heel (10.11; p < 0.001). Pelvic obliquity symmetry was disrupted at 12 cm heel, while tilt symmetry was unaffected. Anthropometric analysis identified 110/600 significant Spearman correlations (23 surviving Benjamini–Hochberg FDR correction) and 29/120 significant regression models (14 surviving FDR); age, body weight, and shoe size were the most consistent predictors, most reliably in the barefoot condition. Conclusions: Heel height exerts condition-specific effects on gait biomechanics. Ballerina shoes produce a gait pattern distinct from both barefoot and heeled walking. Propulsion demand increases height dependently with heel elevation. Because participants walked in their own footwear, the observed effects reflect the combined characteristics of each shoe type rather than heel elevation in isolation. Anthropometric characteristics—particularly age, body weight, and shoe size—are modestly associated with footwear–gait responses and may inform future biomechanical research, although clinical application requires confirmation in standardised-footwear studies and clinical populations.

Background/Objectives: Fluoroquinolones cause Achilles tendinopathy within a narrow, early therapeutic window, yet preventive strategies given alongside these antibiotics remain largely untested. This exploratory pilot study assessed whether four mechanistically distinct adjuvants attenuated histopathological tendon change in a rabbit model of levofloxacin exposure. Methods: Twenty-one male New Zealand White rabbits received oral levofloxacin (100 µg/kg/day, seven days). A contralateral-limb design yielded 42 tendons (two cohorts provided paired limb-specific comparisons and a third cohort received the systemic intervention). Animals were allocated to various groups, receiving platelet-rich plasma (PRP), injectable porcine collagen, oral vitamin E + selenium, topical essential oils with augmented soft-tissue mobilization (ASTM), or a levofloxacin-only control. The main outcome was a modified Bonar composite (tenocyte morphology, cellularity, vascularity, paratendinous fibrosis; 0–12) at three months; additional outcomes were the individual domains and ultrasonographic tendon thickness. Results: Composite scores were low throughout (group medians 2.0–4.0) and did not differ between groups (H = 3.663, p = 0.45); no domain differed, and the untreated control did not show the greatest change. Within animals, collagen-treated tendons scored higher than the paired essential-oil tendons (median difference +3.0, nominal p = 0.031, Bonferroni-adjusted p = 0.062). Tendon thickness increased by day 14 only with vitamin E + selenium (+14.1%; p = 0.003, and p = 0.006 adjusted for baseline); this finding arose in a separate cohort with thinner baseline tendons, cannot be confidently attributed to the intervention, and was unrelated to histopathology (ρ = −0.02, p = 0.91). Macroscopic findings differed between groups (nominal p = 0.031) without predicting tissue grade. Conclusions: No statistically detectable difference in the study-specific four-domain composite was identified among the treatment conditions; the study lacked a levofloxacin-free control and could not provide a definitive efficacy assessment. The model produced only mild pathology, limiting its power, and neither imaging nor gross inspection predicted tissue-level change. These preliminary observations are hypothesis-generating and are intended to inform the design of an adequately powered confirmatory study. The findings are inconclusive for efficacy; the design cannot distinguish lack of adjuvant efficacy from failure of the model to induce measurable disease.

Background/Objectives: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is associated not only with structural spinal deformities but also with alterations in postural control and sensorimotor integration. Objective assessment of balance and plantar-load distribution may provide additional insight into functional impairments, particularly in patients with mild and moderate curves. The aim of this study was to compare static plantar-load distribution and stabilometry parameters in children and adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis under different sensory and postural conditions. Methods: This pilot study included 19 children and adolescents (18 female, 1 male) diagnosed with mild and moderate AIS. Load distribution and stabilometric parameters were assessed using a capacitive platform under three testing conditions: eyes open, eyes closed, and head extension. Parameters evaluated included load distribution across plantar regions and center-of-pressure-related stability measures. Comparisons were performed between conditions to evaluate the influence of visual and vestibular modulation on postural control. Results: Total plantar load did not differ between the right and left foot, and global relative plantar-load distribution remained stable across the three testing conditions. A consistent side-to-side asymmetry was present at the fifth metatarsal head, where load on the left side was significantly lower than on the right in every condition and remained significant after Holm correction for multiple comparisons (p = 0.001–0.002; |r| = 0.94–0.99). Higher left-sided load was also observed at the first metatarsal head and heel; the heel asymmetry remained significant after correction only in the eyes-open condition (Holm p = 0.044), whereas the remaining differences did not survive correction and are reported as exploratory. The left side corresponded to the side of lumbar convexity. Postural stability differed markedly between conditions: center-of-pressure path length, 90% confidence-ellipse area and maximum center-of-pressure speed were greater under the eyes-closed and head-extension conditions than with eyes open, indicating reduced postural stability when visual input was removed or head position was altered. The two challenge conditions did not differ significantly from each other. Conclusions: In this uncontrolled pilot study, children and adolescents with mild-to-moderate idiopathic scoliosis showed a consistent reduction in load under the left fifth metatarsal head, whereas, apart from a higher left heel load that was significant only with eyes open, other regional asymmetries were exploratory. Stabilometric parameters deteriorated under both visual deprivation and head extension, with no statistically significant difference between the two challenge conditions. Because postural changes became apparent mainly when visual or head-position conditions were altered, assessment under such conditions may reveal condition-related changes in postural control within this AIS cohort. However, because no healthy control group was included, these findings should not be interpreted as evidence of AIS-specific sensory-integration deficits. These preliminary findings require confirmation in larger controlled studies including healthy age-matched participants.