Tenotomy and postoperative brace treatment for muscular torticollis

A postoperative corrective brace for congenital muscular torticollis is introduced and the results and indications for its use are presented. Thirty-three of 55 patients who underwent open tenotomy of the sternocleidomastoid muscle with application of the brace following surgery were evaluated in follow-up. Tenotomy was performed at the sternoclavicular origin of the muscle. The mean age at operation was six years; the mean follow-up period was seven years. The results were good in 21 patients (64%), fair in seven (21%), and poor in five (15%). Facial asymmetry remained in all patients over the age of ten who underwent operation. Alopecia, one of the complications of the brace, was found only in patients under age five. This combined treatment with tenotomy and postoperative brace is considered best indicated for patients between six and ten years of age.