The effectiveness of osteopathic manual treatment in the conservative management of infants with deformational plagiocephaly and congenital muscular torticollis

Abstract

Objective: To examine the differences in cranial asymmetry improvements in infants presenting with deformational plagiocephaly (DP), having received osteopathic manual treatment and physiotherapy (OMTPT) to the ones having received physiotherapy and sham. Methods: Pilot randomized controlled trial. Thirty infants with DP were recruited through consenting parents at the Alberta Children's Hospital and randomized into either the OMTPT group or into the sham group. They were assessed by a physiotherapist blinded to the treatment group and received six treatments provided by a physiotherapistosteopathic manual therapist every two weeks for 12 weeks. Main outcomes: Cranial vault asymmetry index (CV AI) and oblique diameter difference (ODD) were measured by the 3D STARscanner TM. Results: Mean estimates for differences between ODD and CV AI did not differ for the OMTPT group compared to the sham group. Conclusions: Cranial asymmetry of infants with DP improved for both groups with no evidence that the addition of OMT to PT lead to greater improvement.