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Craniosynostosis and cranial deformity surgery in Tijuana
When a skull suture closes too early, the head grows misshapen and can restrict brain growth. Correction has an age window that is best not missed.
Why a baby's skull has sutures
A newborn's skull is not a single piece: it is several bony plates joined by flexible sutures, which allow passage through the birth canal and, afterwards, the rapid growth of the brain through the first years. If one of those sutures closes early, the skull stops growing perpendicular to it and compensates by growing too much in the other directions.
Hence each affected suture produces a recognisable shape: a head elongated front to back in sagittal synostosis, a flattened forehead on one side in unilateral coronal, a keel-shaped forehead in metopic. Diagnosis begins with examination and head shape, and is confirmed with three-dimensional CT.
Positional deformity is not the same thing
Many babies arrive with a head flattened on one side from always sleeping in the same position. That is positional plagiocephaly, not craniosynostosis: the sutures are open, the brain is not compressed, and it corrects with position changes, supervised tummy time and, in some cases, a moulding helmet. Telling one from the other avoids both unnecessary surgery and delays that do matter.
In true craniosynostosis surgery aims to release the fused suture and remodel the vault to give the brain room and correct the shape. The best results come from operating in the first months of life, when bone is still malleable and brain growth itself helps remodel.
What the procedure involves
When it is indicated
- Sagittal craniosynostosis (scaphocephaly)
- Unilateral or bilateral coronal craniosynostosis
- Metopic craniosynostosis (trigonocephaly)
- Lambdoid craniosynostosis
- Multiple synostoses and craniofacial syndromes
- Cranial deformity with signs of raised intracranial pressure
Techniques and resources
- CT with three-dimensional reconstruction
- Paediatric cranial instruments
- Resorbable fixation material
- Specialised paediatric anaesthesia
- Serial craniometry
- Moulding helmet for positional deformity
Frequently asked questions about craniosynostosis surgery
Most often no: it is positional plagiocephaly from always sleeping on the same side, and it corrects with position changes and supervised tummy time. An assessment is still worthwhile, because telling it apart from true synostosis changes management entirely.
Generally within the first months of life. Bone is more malleable and brain growth helps remodel the skull after surgery. That is why suspected craniosynostosis should not be postponed to see whether it settles by itself.
When one or more sutures close early and restrict brain growth, intracranial pressure can rise with consequences for development. That is the functional reason for surgery; improved shape is the visible consequence.
Bring your imaging and settle the question
One consultation with your MRI or CT in hand is worth more than ten internet searches. Book by phone or through the form and you will be told what is there, what it means and what your options are.