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Torticollis

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Symptoms and Signs in Pediatric Surgery

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Abstract

The term “torticollis” may be defined narrowly or widely: In a narrower sense, it means congenital muscular torticollis; in this case, the sternomastoid muscle is involved and leads to a tilt of the head to the affected, a torsion to the contralateral side, and a chin elevation (Fig. 6.1).

In wider sense, torticollis includes all abnormal postures of the head: head tilt, face turn, and chin elevation or depression as single or combined features. This general term is important for a comprehensive differential diagnosis of congenital muscular torticollis because it is an abnormal head posture which attracts attention at the first glance in clinical practice.

A careful history and clinical examination including specific clinical skills are crucial for a preliminary differential diagnosis. Depending on the results, additional examinations must be performed. But the former serve not only for the differential diagnosis but also for follow-up and checking of the applied therapeutic measures if they are combined with standardized and reproducible methods of clinical examination and with corresponding quantitative results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Surgery Inselspital, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland

    Prof. em. Georges L. Kaiser

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  1. Prof. em. Georges L. Kaiser
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kaiser, G.L. (2012). Torticollis. In: Symptoms and Signs in Pediatric Surgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31161-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31161-1_6

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