• Noelia González-Gálvez, Pablo Jorge Marcos-Pardo, Mario Albaladejo-Saura, Abraham López-Vivancos, and Raquel Vaquero-Cristóbal.
• Sports Injury Prevention Research Group (PRELEDE), Universidad Católica de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
• Postgrad Med J. 2022 Mar 31.

AimTo evaluate the effects of a 9-month Pilates exercise programme on the sagittal spinal posture and hamstring extensibility of adolescents with thoracic hyperkyphosis.DesignRandomised controlled trial with blinded examiner.PatientsOne-hundred and three adolescents with thoracic hyperkyphosis.InterventionsParticipants were randomly placed into an experimental group which participated in a Pilates exercise programme implemented for a total of 38 weeks (two sessions/week, 15 min/session) (Pilates group (PG), sample = 49, or control group (CG), sample = 48).Main Outcome MeasuresThe outcome measures were the thoracic curve in sagittal spinal curvature in relaxed standing, sagittal spinal curvatures and pelvic tilt in relaxed standing and sit-and-reach positions, and hamstring extensibility.ResultsThere was a significant adjusted mean difference between groups in favour of the PG in the thoracic curve in relaxed standing position (-5.6°, p = 0.003), pelvic tilt (-2.9°, p = 0.03) and all straight leg tests (p<0.001). The PG showed a significant change in thoracic curve (-5.9, p<0.001) and in lumbar angle (4.0, p = 0.001) in relaxed standing position and in all straight leg raise tests (+6.4 to +15°, p<0.0001).ConclusionsThe adolescents with thoracic hyperkyphosis from the PG had a decreased thoracic kyphosis in relaxed standing position, and improved hamstring extensibility as compared with the CG. More than 50% of the participants obtained kyphosis values inside normality, showing an adjusted mean difference between groups in the thoracic curve of about 73% of the baseline mean, resulting in a large improvement and high clinical importance.Trial Registration NumberNCT03831867.© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Postgraduate Medical Journal. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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