Characteristics, Diagnosis and Management of Congenial Muscular Torticollis

Abstract

Introduction: Congenital muscular torticollis is a clinical entity that becomes evident at birth or shortly thereafter. It presents a wide spectrum of sequelae. Some of these, once established, may require complex and costly surgical corrections.

Objective: To characterize congenital muscular torticollis according to clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic elements.

Methods: A search for relevant literature on the subject was carried out in the first third of 2021. As information search engines Pubmed/Medline, SciELO, Scopus and ScienceDirect were used; as well as official sources, such as China CDC, CDC and FDA. The search strategy included the following keywords: tortícolis muscular congénita [congenital muscular torticollis], complicaciones dentofaciales y psicológicas [dentofacial and psychological complications], plagiocefalia posicional [positional plagiocephaly]. Review articles, research articles and web pages, in Spanish and in English, were assessed by considering that they had generally been published within less than ten years and that they referred, within their title, specifically to the topic of study. The articles that did not meet these conditions were excluded. This allowed the study of ninety bibliographic references, thirty of which were cited in the present article.

Conclusions: Congenital muscular torticollis is a frequently observed disease, which should be diagnosed, clinically and by complementary tests, in the first months of life. Early identification and rehabilitation treatment are the fundamental weapons to avoid its dentofacial and psychological sequelae.