Abstract
Traumatic retrolisthesis of the first lumbar vertebra is a rare injury and only one case has been documented in the literature. We report a case of traumatic retrolisthesis of the first lumbar vertebra in a 7-year old child. He was injured after being dragged by a cow and presented with Frenkel grade A paraplegia. His plain radiographs revealed complete retrolisthesis of the first lumbar vertebra over the second. The patient was treated surgically with open reduction and sublaminar wire loop rectangle fixation. The patient showed Frankle grade D (Frankle grade) neurological recovery in the postoperative period over a period of 15 months. This case is reported in view of rarity and mechanism of injury is described.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Newton PO. Thoracolumbar spine fractures. In: Beaty JH, and Kasser JR Editors Rockwood and Wilkins’ Fractures in Children 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2006. p.815–32.
Haffner DL, Hoffer MM, Weidbusch R. Etiology of children’s spinal injuries at Rancho Los Amigos. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1993;18:679–84.
Wang MY, Hoh DJ, Leary SP, Griffith P, McComb JG. High rates of neurological improvement following severe traumatic pediatric spinal cord injury. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2004;29:1493–7.
Kingwell SP, Noonan VK, Fisher CG, Graeb DA, Kenyan O, Zang H, et al. Relationship of neural axis level of injury to motor recovery and health related quality of life in patients with a thoracolumbar spinal injury. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2010;92:1591–9.
Yazici M, Alanay A, Aksoy MC, Acaroglu E, Surat A. Traumatic L1–L2 dislocation without fracture in a 6 year old girl. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1999;24:1483–6.
Verhelst L, Ackerman P, Meirhaeghe JV. Traumatic posterior lumbosacral spondyloptosis in a six year old: A case report and review of the literature. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2009;34:E629–34.
Kingwell SP, Curt A, Dvorak MF. Factors affecting neurological outcome in traumatic conus medullaris and cauda equina injuries. Neurosurg Focus 2008;25:E7.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yadav, V., Mishra, D., Maini, L. et al. Cowherd’s injury: Traumatic retrospondyloptosis of L1 over L2 in a 7-year-old child. IJOO 45, 365–367 (2011). https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5413.82344
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5413.82344