Assessing the Cervical Range of Motion in Infants With Positional Plagiocephaly.

PURPOSE: To determine if infants with positional plagiocephaly have limitations of active and passive cervical range of motion measured with simple and reliable methods.

METHODS

The examiners assessed bilateral active and passive cervical rotations and passive cervical lateral flexion. Cervical assessment was performed twice by 2 different physicians to assess intertester reliability. To assess intratester reliability the first investigator performed a second examination 48 hours after the first one.

RESULTS

One-hundred nine subjects were analyzed; 70.7% of the sample had head positional preference on the right, while 29.3% had head positional preference on the left (χ 35.52, P <0.001). Cervical rotations and lateral flexion showed reliable levels of agreement for intra and intertester reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

The most limited range of motion in infants with positional plagiocephaly was cervical active rotation which affected more than 90% of patients. Passive cervical rotations and lateral flexion were limited in more than 60% of patients.