The interview

Bogdan-Andrei Vereș - Romania

What is your profession:

I am a physiotherapist, PhD student, and associated professor at Babeș-Bolyai University, at the Physical Education and Sport Faculty, Physiotherapy Department. 

How is the rehabilitation treatment of spine diseases managed in your country?

In Romania, there are few ways that public health addresses spine disease rehabilitation. There is a public hospital that diagnoses the pathology, and then there are 3 ways that people can follow:

• Public rehabilitation hospitals that are using a 2-week protocol to rehabilitate any pathology.

• Private hospitals work in a collaborative way with medical state funds.

• Private hospitals or clinics.

In all ways, in most cases, the pathology is treated with a multidisciplinary approach, based on the institution's capabilities.
 

Scoliosis: how is it treated in your country?

The orthopaedic doctor or a paediatric doctor usually diagnoses a child with scoliosis after the X-ray. After that, some of them recommend a brace, some of them recommend physiotherapy, and some of them recommend both, but some of them ignore the pathology.
When patients get in touch with physiotherapy, they are usually trained in a specific therapy for scoliosis (like Schroth), but there are still therapists who are approaching scoliosis in a two-dimensional way.

There is no screening at a national level, so the children reach the physician too late when they discover a hump or some asymmetry at the trunk level. In Romania, a surgical approach to scoliosis is taken, but only after 50 or more degrees.

What would you like to improve on the clinical practice currently followed in your country?