Results of surgical treatment of muscular torticollis for patients greater than 6 years of age.

From 1983-1989, 37 patients with muscular torticollis were treated surgically by partial resection of the distal portion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Of these, 19 patients who at surgery were greater than 6 years of age (average 11 years 2 months) were followed for greater than 1 year (average 2 years 2 months). Although both function and cosmesis were improved in all cases, scoliosis was a residual deformity in some cases, especially in girls.