O uso da órtese craniana como abordagem não cirúrgica da plagiocefalia posicional: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Introduction: The Positional plagiocephaly is a type of change in the shape of the head that occurs due to the application of persistent mechanical forces on the bones of the developing skull. The cranial orthosis has been an option for the treatment of plagiocephaly, its function is to support prominent areas and allow a space within the orthosis for the growth of the skull to be directed to areas that need growth. The literature related to cranial orthosis is scarce in articles of good quality, reliability and scientific validity. Objective: To systematically review the literature related to the use of cranial orthosis for the non-surgical approach to plagiocephaly. Methodology: An electronic search was performed in the Pubmed/Medline, Lilacs, Scielo and PEdro databases using DECS and MeSH terms. The search was carried out between October 2021 and February 2022. Results: Of the 97 articles selected, 14 studies met the eligibility criteria of the systematic review. The authors showed that the orthosis presents acceptable results, being considered as a treatment option with a high potential for changes in metrics that assess asymmetry, such as cranial asymmetry index, cranial change rate and the value in millimeters of cranial asymmetry. Conclusion: The treatment using the orthosis is more effective than the natural course of positional plagiocephaly, it is significantly faster than other conservative treatments and the severity of the plagiocephaly and the baby's age should be considered when deciding on tratament.