The status of the cervical spine in preschool children with a history of congenital muscular torticollis

Background: Infants with congenital muscular torticollis are born with an asymmetric range of motion and a muscular imbalance in the cervical spine, as a result of a shortening or excessive contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Purpose: The study aimed to investigate passive range of motion (PROM) for rotation and lateral flexion, and muscle function of the cervical spine in children that had a history of CMT as infants. Study design: a prospective cohort study. Patient sample: 58 children at the age of 3.5 to 5 years that had been treated for CMT have infants participated in the study. Method: PROM was measured with protractors and muscle function was estimated with a modified Muscle Function Scale. Data from infancy were taken from earlier records. Result: PROM in rotation of the neck was mean 98.7&#176 and PROM in lateral flexion of the neck was mean 69.1&#176. Symmetric PROM of the neck was found in 74% of the children for rotation and in 88% of the children for lateral flexion. Multiple regression showed that gender and PROM in rotation as infants had a significant impact on asymmetric PROM. Forty-five percent of the children had some degree of muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck. Conclusion: Possible risk factors for later asymmetric PROM are: gender, birth weight, gestation week and PROM in rotation as infants. These factors ought to be taken into consideration when developing guidelines for long-term follow-up.

Clinical Observation on Tuina Therapy for Congenital Muscular Torticollis

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of spleen-strengthening and kidney-benefiting tuina therapy for congenital muscular torticollis.Methods:A total of 63 cases who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into an observation group and a control group.Cases in the control group were treated with tuina manipulation on the local area,whereas cases in the observation group were treated with local tuina plus manipulation that acts to strengthen the spleen and benefit the kidney.Cases in both groups were treated three times a week,20 times for a course of treatment.The clinical effects were observed after three courses.Results:There was no between-group significant difference in the total effective rate.However,the recovery and marked effect rate in the observation group was 63.3%,versus 33.3%in the control group,showing a significant difference(P<0.05).Conclusion:Combining local tuina with spleen-strengthening and kidneybenefiting tuina manipulation could obtain better effect in congenital muscular torticollis than local tuina alone.