The influence of age on the results of open sternomastoid tenotomy in muscular torticollis.

The ideal age for surgery for muscular torticollis, the complications and results of open sternomastoid tenotomy were investigated in 60 patients operated on at different age-groups. Under the age of 1, tethering of the scar to the deeper structures was common and was mainly responsible for the lower percentage of good results (42.1 per cent). In the age-group 1 to 4 years, satisfactory correction of facial asymmetry, head and tilt and limitation of neck movements, was achieved with overall 66.7 per cent good results. However, in patients above the age of 5, not only was the correction of the secondary deformities uncertain but the late complications like loss of sternomastoid column, disfiguring scar and presence of lateral bands were more common. Only 33.3 per cent had good results in the 5 to 8 year age-group and none in the above 9 years age-group. The best time for surgery in muscular torticollis is in the patient between 1 and 4 years of age.