OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical and radiographic changes in patients with postural rounded upper back. METHODS: 30 patients diagnosed with postural rounded upper back were studied, being 22 male and eight female, aged between 10 and 20 years, referred by the outpatient clinic of the Grupo de Cirurgia da Coluna of the Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Patients underwent assessment of posture, special tests to check for muscle retractions and radiographic examination to measure the curvatures of spine using the Cobb method. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: It is concluded that in the postural roundback there is a moderate increase of the thoracic kyphosis; the lumbar and cervical curvatures do not increase as a compensatory mechanism; the head appears anteriorized and the shoulder is also anteriorized and medially rotated; muscle retractions are present in the hamstrings, hip flexors, pectoralis minor and adductors of the shoulder muscles; the mobility of the lumbar spine is preserved and there is no relationship between the magnitude of thoracic curvature and the retraction of the hamstring muscles.
Analysis of musculoskeletal changes in patients with postural roundback