Treatment of deformational plagiocephaly and torticollis using a weight distribution ring: a report of three cases.
Plagiocephaly, from the Greek 'plagios' (slanting) and 'kephale' (head), refers to a condition of an infant's head deformation by forces acting upon a malleable cranium. Marked plagiocephaly causes distress and stigma towards the baby and their family and has knock-on effects with craniofacial abnormalities, visual-field defects and delay in motor skills, and may also cause developmental difficulties. Current treatment methods have multiple drawbacks. This small, illustrated case series presents a novel, cost-effective, practical first-line treatment using a horseshoe-shaped gel head ring to redistribute pressure, allowing uniform growth and reshaping. Our early experience suggests that this method represents an effective treatment option with promising results so far.
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK.
Edward
E
Gee
Christopher E
CE
Hill
Adnan
A
Saithna
Chetan S
CS
Modi
Irene D
ID
van der Ploeg
D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D049068:Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D014103:Torticollis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology