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Manual therapy in infantile torticollis: a randomized, controlled pilot study
Author(s) -
Haugen Else Beth,
Benth JūratėŠaltytė,
Nakstad Britt
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02145.x
Subject(s) - medicine , torticollis , physical therapy , randomized controlled trial , manual therapy , range of motion , intervention (counseling) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , surgery , alternative medicine , pathology , psychiatry
Aim: Torticollis in infancy is routinely treated by child physiotherapists. The addition of manual therapy to the treatment is a new approach in Norway. As the effect of manual therapy for this condition is poorly documented, we designed a pilot study to evaluate measurement methods and examine the short‐time effect of manual therapy in addition to child physiotherapy. Methods: Randomized controlled trial, double blinded. Thirty‐two patients aged 3–6 months were randomized to intervention group (manual therapy and child physiotherapy) and control group (child physiotherapy alone). Primary outcome: Change of symptoms because of torticollis evaluated by video recordings. Secondary outcomes: 12 parameters including spontaneous movements, active and passive range of motion and head righting reaction. Results: We found a nonsignificant tendency to greater improvement in lateral flexion (p = 0.092) and head righting reaction (p = 0.116) in the intervention group. Conclusion: In this pilot study, we found that in patients with moderate symptoms related to torticollis, the short‐time effect of manual therapy in addition to physiotherapy is not significantly better than physiotherapy alone.