Treatment of pediatric myelomeningocele

  Pediatric myotonic squint, commonly known as “crooked neck”, is a condition characterized by a child’s head tilted to the affected side and face rotated to the healthy side. Clinically, except for a very few cases caused by spinal deformity, visual impairment and neck muscle paralysis, myotonic squint is usually caused by contracture of the sternocleidomastoid muscle on one side. This disease is mostly caused by the injury and bleeding of one side of the sternocleidomastoid muscle due to extrusion by the birth canal or forceps during childbirth, and the contracture is formed by the mechanization of the hematoma; or the fetal head position is not correct during childbirth, which obstructs the blood flow and causes ischemic changes in the muscle, and the muscle fibers become edematous, degenerative and hyperplastic, and finally causes muscle contracture, resulting in myotonic squamous neck; or the fetal head is tilted to one side in the uterus, which obstructs the blood supply of one side of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and causes The ischemic change of this muscle is caused by the head tilting to one side in the womb, which obstructs the blood supply of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and causes ischemic change. This disease belongs to the category of “tendon knot” and “tendon contracture” in Chinese medicine.  Clinical manifestations: 1. After birth, a lump may appear on one side of the neck, oval or cord-like, mostly confined to the middle and lower part of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and later the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the affected side becomes contracted and tense.  2, the child’s head is skewed to the affected side while the face is rotated to the healthy side, and the head and neck rotational activities are limited.  3, long duration of the disease, the affected side of the facial development is affected, significantly smaller than the healthy side.  4.Late stage may be accompanied by compensatory thoracic scoliosis.  5. Early cervical spine X-ray examination has no abnormal changes, but late cervical scoliosis deformity may appear.  1.Tui-na treatment: 1.Treatment principle: relaxing tendons and activating blood, softening hardness and dispersing knots.  2, treatment steps (1) massage the affected side of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and mass: the child lying on his side or supine position, the doctor sitting on the healthy side, massage the affected side of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and mass for 5 to 10 minutes. The movements should be gentle.  (2) Pinch the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the affected side: repeatedly pinch the sternocleidomastoid muscle from top to bottom for 3 to 5 minutes. The force should be light and deep.  (3) Passive exercise: with the passive movement of the neck, mainly lateral bending to the healthy side and rotation of the affected side, repeated several times. The movement should be slow.  (4) Wipe the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the affected side: apply pressure with the thumb and push and wipe the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the affected side from top to bottom 20 times.  (5) Pushing and rubbing Fengchi: Apply pressure with the ribbed side of the thumb and push and rub the Fengchi point on the affected side of the child for 1 minute.  (6) Take the shoulder well: use the thumb and the other four fingers to pinch the shoulder well point and the surrounding large tendons in the center of the line between the root of the child’s neck and the shoulder peak with relative force for 5 times.  3.Course of treatment: The earlier the treatment, the better the effect. Generally within 3 months of the child’s birth, massage is better, massage once a day, the course of treatment is longer, it takes 3-6 months.  Precautions: (1) When distinguished from bony squint, postural squint and neurological squint.  (2) Timely detection and treatment. Generally, it is better to start treatment within 3 months of birth. When the mass disappears, massage should be continued until the neck activity is normal (3) If the disease has a long duration and the massage treatment is ineffective for more than six months, surgery can be considered.  (4) Correction of head position, family members adopt the opposite direction of the sloping neck in daily life (such as breastfeeding, embrace, sleeping pillow) to correct the sloping neck.  (5) Self-massage, family members can use the threaded surface of the index, middle and ring fingers to knead the affected side of the child’s neck, mainly at the swollen nodes.  (6) For children with oblique neck, attention should also be paid to check whether there is congenital hip subluxation.  (7) The child should not be held directly too early to prevent the occurrence of postural squint.