Posterior soft tissue injury in paediatric cervical spine trauma

ABSTRACT

We describe our experience in dealing with severe cervical spine injury in children below the age of 8 years. To highlight the importance of posterior soft tissue injury in the cervical spine trauma of children aged under 8 years We treated four such cases in the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital all were victims of road traffic accidents All patients were resuscitated on arrival and required ventilation. All had head injuries. Cervical spine injuries were suspected; MRI showed the lesion. Three patients remained ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. One had Brown-Sequard syndrome and went on to full recovery. No cervical spine instability was noted. Widening of C1-C2 interspinous space of over 10 mm should alert the clinician to the possibility of posterior soft tissue injuries. Cervical spine injuries must always be suspected in the unconscious child. A 'normal' cervical spine X-ray does not exclude a spinal cord injury which can be diagnosed by an MRI