Citation

Park MS, Kang SH, Cho YJ, Yang JS. Korean J. Neurotrauma 2018; 14(2): 169-172.

Affiliation

Department of Neurosurgery, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Korean Neurotraumatology Society)

DOI

10.13004/kjnt.2018.14.2.169

PMID

30402440

PMCID

PMC6218343

Abstract

Pediatric seat-belt fracture is a rare condition, and its management has not been well defined. The authors report a case of pediatric Chance fracture that was managed conservatively and that demonstrated rapid bone healing. A 7-year-old boy presented with back pain after a motor vehicle accident. Plain lumbar spine radiography, three-dimensional computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a seat-belt fracture type C (classified by Rumball and Jarvis), and the patient's condition was managed conservatively. The patient started to ambulate with a brace 2 weeks after the injury. Spine CT performed 100 days after the injury revealed a remodeled fracture, and dynamic radiography did not show any evidence of instability or kyphotic deformity. We suggest that if there are no neurological deficits or severe deformities, then a pediatric seat-belt fracture should be managed conservatively, because the bone healing process is far more rapid in children than it is in adults and because of possible growth problems after surgery.

Language: en

Keywords

Conservative manage; Fracture healing; Pediatric injury; Seat-belt injury