All issues > Volume 47(11); 2004

Case Report

Korean J Pediatr. 2004;47(11):1228-1231. Published online November 15, 2004.

A Case of Spinal Cord Injury without Radiographic Abnormality

Seoung Joon SJ Kim¹, Dae Kyun DK Koh¹, Jin Hee JH Oh¹, Jong Hyun JH Kim¹, Jung Soo JS Jun²

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Dae Kyun DK Koh ,Email: kdk@hanmail.net

Abstract

A spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality(SCIWORA) was defined by Pang and Wilberger in 1982 as the "objective signs of myelopathy as a result of trauma" in which no evidence of fracture, subluxation, or instability on plain radiographs, or computed tomography is demonstrable. Inherent elasticity of the vertebral column in infants and young children, among other age-related anatomical peculiarities, render the pediatric bony cervical and thoracic spine exceedingly vulnerable to deforming forces. We report here on a case of SCIWORA in a 3-year-old girl who presented with lower extremity paralysis, paresthesia, and voiding difficulty. The mechanism of neural damage in this case was purely longitudinal distraction. Such stress on the spine resulted from severe pulling up the lower extremity by her father, which was not thought to be damaging at that time.

Keywords :Spinal cord injury; Neurologic damage; Children; SCIWORA