# Efficacy and safety analysis of massage and medium-frequency electrotherapy in the treatment of congenital muscular torticollis in infants

## TL;DR

This study shows that combining massage and electrotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for infants with a neck muscle condition called congenital muscular torticollis.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence for the efficacy and safety of combining massage and medium-frequency electrotherapy in treating congenital muscular torticollis in infants.

## Key findings

- The treatment significantly improved cervical range of motion and muscle function in infants with CMT.
- No serious complications were observed during the treatment period.
- 89.6% of patients showed overall improvement without needing surgery.

## Abstract

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of massage combined with medium-frequency electrotherapy (M&MFE) in the treatment of congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) in infants.

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 48 CMT patients who underwent M&MFE treatment at the Fujian Children's Hospital and Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of Ao-feng Community Health Service Center in Tai-jiang District, Fuzhou City, from May 2021 to December 2023. All patients had complete follow-up data, received continuous treatment for 6 months, and were followed up for at least 1 year. The following parameters were evaluated: cervical range of motion (ROM) and muscle function scale to assess efficacy, and complications during treatment were recorded.

A total of 48 patients were included, comprising 26 females and 22 males. The age at initial treatment ranged from 21 to 135 days, with a mean of (41.2 ± 25.4) days. There were 21 cases with left-side involvement and 27 cases with right-side involvement. All patients were followed up for 13–20 months, with a mean follow-up duration of (14.5 ± 2.6) months. By the end of follow-up, 5 patients (10.4%) underwent surgical release. The overall efficacy rate was 89.6%, and significant improvements were observed in cervical ROM and muscle function scores after treatment (P < 0.05). No complications related to the skin, blood vessels, nerves, or muscles occurred during the treatment period.

The combination of manual massage and local medium-frequency electrotherapy is a safe and effective non-surgical treatment option for treating infants with congenital muscular torticollis. It significantly improves the neck range of motion and function, and has high clinical promotion value.