eMedicine Specialties > Orthopedic Surgery > Hand & Upper Extremity

Torticollis: Follow-up

Author: Gurdeep S Othee, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Georgia
Coauthor(s): Carl R Menckhoff, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Georgia; Lorenzo L Pacelli, MD, Consulting Surgeon, Division of Orthopedic Surgery, Section of Upper Extremity Surgery, Scripps Clinic
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Feb 5, 2008

Outcome and Prognosis

Ninety percent of patients with congenital muscular torticollis respond to passive stretching within the first year of life.

For patients who undergo selective denervation, 65-80% experience satisfactory results, and these patients can be expected to maintain their improvement.

No long-term prognosis for sternocleidomastoid release is available in the current literature.

Future and Controversies

Stereotactic procedures targeting the pallidofugal fibers or Forel field have not had results encouraging enough for them to become widely accepted.

 


More on Torticollis

Overview: Torticollis
Workup: Torticollis
Treatment: Torticollis
Follow-up: Torticollis
References

References

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  15. Oleszek JL, Chang N, Apkon SD, Wilson PE. Botulinum toxin type a in the treatment of children with congenital muscular torticollis. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. Oct 2005;84(10):813-6. [Medline].

  16. Ferkel RD, Westin GW, Dawson EG, Oppenheim WL. Muscular torticollis. A modified surgical approach. J Bone Joint Surg Am. Sep 1983;65(7):894-900. [Medline].

  17. Bertrand C, Molina-Negro P, Bouvier G, Gorczyca W. Observations and analysis of results in 131 cases of spasmodic torticollis after selective denervation. Appl Neurophysiol. 1987;50(1-6):319-23. [Medline].

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Further Reading

Keywords

wryneck, spasmodic torticollis, cervical dystonia, loxia, congenital muscular torticollis, neck pain, twisted neck

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Gurdeep S Othee, MD, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Georgia
Gurdeep S Othee, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Emergency Physicians
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Carl R Menckhoff, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Georgia
Carl R Menckhoff, MD, FACEP, FAAEM is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Lorenzo L Pacelli, MD, Consulting Surgeon, Division of Orthopedic Surgery, Section of Upper Extremity Surgery, Scripps Clinic
Lorenzo L Pacelli, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Joseph E Sheppard, MD, Director of Hand and Upper Extremity, Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Arizona
Joseph E Sheppard, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Medical Association, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Southern Orthopaedic Association, and Western Orthopaedic Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Michael Yaszemski, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Bioengineering, Mayo Foundation, Mayo Medical School
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Dinesh Patel, MD, FACS, Associate Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School; Chief of Arthroscopic Surgery, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dinesh Patel, MD, FACS is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, American College of International Physicians, and American College of Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Harris Gellman, MD, Consulting Surgeon, Broward Hand Center, Voluntary Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Plastic Surgery, Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Surgery, University of Miami School of Medicine
Harris Gellman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Association, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, and Arkansas Medical Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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