Time to successful outcome vs. treatment duration in cranial remolding orthosis treatment.
Alyssa M Petz, Claire E Vallery, Chelsea J Richards and 5 others
PMID 39503457WHAT IT FOUND
Time to successful cranial remolding outcome depends on initial severity, not age.
Most infants achieved success within 19.4 weeks, but actual treatment duration was often longer, especially for moderate cases, suggesting some treatments may be extended beyond clinical necessity.
Key findings
01Time to successful outcome increased significantly with initial severity but was not dependent on age at initiation.
02Treatment duration was significantly longer than time to successful outcome for infants with an initial CVA of less than 17 mm.
0395% of infants who achieved a successful outcome did so within 19.4 weeks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Measurements were taken only at approximately 6-week intervals, so the reported time to success may be inflated if improvement occurred between visits. The study was retrospective, so the technique for taking cranial measurements could not be standardized across different orthotists. Discharge decisions were influenced by non-clinical factors such as family satisfaction and appointment availability, which confounds the relationship between clinical success and treatment duration.
Declared interests
The authors worked at the University of Michigan during the study and declared no conflicts of interest. None of the authors were the treating clinicians for the infants in the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a longer treatment duration indicates a poorer clinical outcome or slower healing. The study shows that treatment often continues after the clinical goal (CVA ≤ 5 mm) is met due to family preferences or administrative factors, not because the orthosis is working slower.
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