The interview
Stanislava Markez, Bosnia & Herzegovina
What is your name, and where do you come from?
Stanislava Markez from Banjaluka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
What is your profession?
PRM specialist
How is the rehabilitation treatment of spine diseases managed in your country?
There is a very long tradition of scoliosis conservative treatment in my country, especially in the town and Institute where I work.The Institute where I am employed is the leading in this field in our region. Children are referred to the Institute from GPs and sport medicine specialists for further examination and treatment. For mild dysfunctions children go to examinations and treatment in CBR centers across the country. For operative treatment children are referred mostly to Belgrade, Serbia.
Scoliosis: how is it treated?
In my country and the Institute where I work, we do conservative treatment with specific exercises and braces. In approach to diagnosis and treatment we follow SOSORT guidelines. The first scoliosis team was established in 1989. In the scoliosis team are: physiatrists, physiotherapist, nurse, orthotist, sometimes orthopedic surgeon, psychologist and social worker. The Team examines a patient, takes measurements, analyses x- ray and measures the Cobb angle, decides about treatment and prescribes a brace. The diagnostic approach is the use of long X ray, Scolioscan and Kinect. Braces are produced in robotic assisted CAD/ CAM technology. We use Schroth and SEAS therapy. For adult patients we recently started with Schroth therapy.
What aspects of actual clinical practice would you like to see improved in your country?
Better approach to scoliosis in adults which is actually my field of interest. I hope we will start with a more active approach in scoliosis management for adult patients according to new evidence based knowledge, and also start with bracing
What do you believe you can learn from this course, and how can you use the new concepts in your regular clinical work?
I am sure I will learn a lot about assessment, diagnosis and therapy according to evidence based data preferably in the adult scoliosis approach.
