Congenital muscular torticum

Congenital muscular torticollis is characterized by a persistent incorrect position of the head: slanting laterally and turning, the development of secondary changes in the head, shoulder girdle and spine. It occurs mainly in girls and more often it is one-sided. The torticollis develops as a result of the congenital malformation of the sternocleidosusiform muscle. Such an underdeveloped muscle is easily traumatized during severe labor, especially with breech presentation. At the site of the injury over time, scar tissue forms, which again leads to deformation of the facial skeleton.

In neonates, a tumor-shaped formation of a rounded shape up to 2.5 cm in diameter is found, dense, painful in the first days after birth. This formation is located in the thickness of the nodding muscle in the lower or middle third of it, disappears with age, but the muscle becomes less elastic, its shortening appears, the inclination of the head towards the lesion.

Treatment begins at two weeks of age. The child is laid in bed so that the light and toys are on the healthy side. They conduct a course of physiotherapy (5-6 UHF procedures), from the age of two months begin corrective gymnastics and massage, combining them with courses of physiotherapeutic treatment, in order to stretch the diseased muscle. Operative treatment is shown from the age of 3 years. The results of timely treatment are favorable.