Manual therapy in infantile torticollis: a randomized, controlled pilot study

Aim: Torticollis in infancy is routinely treated by child physiotherapists. The addition of manual therapy to the treatment is a new approach in Norway. As the effect of manual therapy for this condition is poorly documented, we designed a pilot study to evaluate measurement methods and examine the short-time effect of manual therapy in addition to child physiotherapy. Methods: Randomized controlled trial, double blinded. Thirty-two patients aged 3-6 months were randomized to intervention group (manual therapy and child physiotherapy) and control group (child physiotherapy alone). Primary outcome: Change of symptoms because of torticollis evaluated by video recordings. Secondary outcomes: 12 parameters including spontaneous movements, active and passive range of motion and head righting reaction. Results: We found a nonsignificant tendency to greater improvement in lateral flexion (p = 0.092) and head righting reaction (p = 0.116) in the intervention group. Conclusion: In this pilot study, we found that in patients with moderate symptoms related to torticollis, the short-time effect of manual therapy in addition to physiotherapy is not significantly better than physiotherapy alone.