[Hematoma of the sternocleidomastoid. Results of a non-invasive treatment in newborn infants]. / L'ematoma dello sternocleidomastoideo. Risultati di un trattamento non invasivo in età neonatale.

Nine infants with haematoma of the SCM muscle were evaluated. A review of previous reports and a comparison of the clinical features of this group of patients to ones considered in other reports is reported and a simple therapeutic program is outlined: during the first year of life, postures and simple exercises performed by the mother under the pediatrician's supervision are suggested. In the eight cases in which the therapeutic program was followed, the long-term outcome was satisfactory from both cosmetic and functional point of view. Therefore this method should be preferred during the first year of life, also taking into account the lack of negative influence on the mother-infant relationship and on the infant's neurological development.