The majority of these children should improve without surgery utilizing either repositioning techniques or a specially molded helmet. Rarely surgery may be needed for advanced cases. The timing and type of surgery is very much dependent on the type of synostosis and the preferences of the neurosurgeon. Often these operations are performed by a team of surgeons including a specially trained craniofacial plastic surgeon in addition to a neurosurgeon. The majority of operations are performed in the first year of life, and some even in the first few months of life.
Parents often ask what the necessity of the operation is if the child is doing well.
The answer is somewhat confusing. Certain times if you do not treat the synostosis then pressure can build up in the head and cause injury to the brain. As best as can be known this is probably true in the minority of cases. What is true is that most of these conditions will cause a marked deformity to the skull and face that the child will have to live with for his entire life. These two reasons are usually felt sufficient to justify the risks of surgery.