Clinical observation of tuina techniques in treating muscular torticollis in 33 infants

Thirty-three infants with muscular torticollis were treated by Tuina techniques, and the size of the hardened sternocleidomastoid muscle in the affected side was B-ultrasonographically observed before and after treatment. Results: 27 cases were cured, 5 cases got effectiveness, 1 case failed and the total effective rate was 97.0%; B-ultrasonography, in the palpable cord-like or ovary-like lumps, showed low echo in 28 cases, moderate echo in 2 cases and high echo in 3 cases; there were significant differences in the length, thickness and width of the lumps between before and after treatment,P<0.01. It is indicated that Tuina is quite effective against infantile muscular torticollis; that ultrasonography can be adopted as an objective item for the evaluation of the clinical efficacy of Tuina in the treatment of infantile muscular torticollis, and it is a simple, convenient and inexpensive method and should be extensively popularized in clinical practice. Translator: XIAO Yuan-chun