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Red Flags in Torticollis: A Historical Cohort Study
Meta Starc, Stefania Norbedo1, Martina Tubaro
1Institute for Maternal and Child Health IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy.
Insights
In children with torticollis, fever, sore throat, headache, and age are key indicators of severe illness. Identifying these red flags can help determine the need for hospitalization.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Emergency Medicine
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Torticollis is a common condition in children presenting to emergency departments.
- Identifying the underlying cause and predicting severity is crucial for appropriate management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the range of pathologies causing torticollis in pediatric emergency department patients.
- To identify clinical red flags associated with severe outcomes and hospitalization.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 392 children evaluated for torticollis between 2008 and 2013.
- Analysis of medical records to identify pathologies and associated symptoms.
Main Results:
- Postural torticollis was the most common diagnosis (61%).
- Infection-related (19.4%) and traumatic (16.3%) causes were also significant.
- Fever, sore throat, headache, and age were independent predictors of hospitalization.
Conclusions:
- The presence of 2 or 3 of the identified red flags (fever, sore throat, headache, age) significantly increased the risk of severe illness.
- These clinical features are vital for risk stratification in pediatric torticollis cases.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the spectrum of pathologies responsible for torticollis in children presenting to the emergency department and to evaluate the associated symptoms to determine clinical red flags for hospitalization.
Methods:
This was a historical retrospective cohort study. Medical records of children evaluated in our emergency department for torticollis from 2008 to 2013 were reviewed.
Results:
Among 392 identified patients, 61% had postural torticollis,19.4% infection related, 16.3% traumatic, and 3.5% other. Twenty-five patients (6.4%) were hospitalized. Four variables were strongly and independently related to the severe outcome: fever, sore throat, headache, and age.
Conclusions:
The association of 2 or 3 of these 4 features carried a risk of 32% and 58%, respectively, of having a severe illness.
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