Use of external orthotic helmet therapy in positional plagiocephaly

Joyce P K Ho; Kylie-Ann Mallitt; Erica Jacobson; Rajesh Reddy

doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2015.12.023

Use of external orthotic helmet therapy in positional plagiocephaly

J Clin Neurosci. 2016 Jul:29:46-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.12.023. Epub 2016 Mar 2.

Authors

Joyce P K Ho¹, Kylie-Ann Mallitt², Erica Jacobson³, Rajesh Reddy³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, High Street, Kensington, NSW, Australia; Department of Neurosurgery, Sydney Children's Hospital, High Street, Randwick, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: joycepkho@gmail.com.
² Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, High Street, Kensington, NSW, Australia.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, Sydney Children's Hospital, High Street, Randwick, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 26947339
DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.12.023

Abstract

Positional plagiocephaly is the most common type of cranial asymmetry affecting infants. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of helmet therapy compared to no helmet therapy in treating positional plagiocephaly in infants under the age of 1year. This retrospective review was conducted in an Australian paediatric hospital and included 171 patients recruited from outpatient clinics. Only 30 patients had positional plagiocephaly scores recorded at first and final consultations while 39 patients had diagonal measurements recorded at both visits. The mean age was 7.38months at initial consultation with a mean follow-up duration of 5.85months. Those who had helmet therapy had a significantly greater reduction in diagonal difference than those who did not use helmets (p=0.011). Therefore, there may be a role for helmet therapy in the treatment of severe positional plagiocephaly.

Keywords: Deformational; Helmets; Nonsynostotic; Plagiocephaly; Positional.

MeSH terms

Australia
Female
Head Protective Devices*
Humans
Infant
Male
Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic / therapy*
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome