Spinal injuries in 57 patients 17 years or younger.

Spinal column and cord injuries are rare in children and adolescents, and few reports in the literature that specifically address this subject. A retrospective review of medical records and radiographs of 57 patients was undertaken to identify age-related injury patterns, the incidence of neurologic deficits, and the presence of associated injuries. The most common injury in very young patients was spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality or spinal cord injury with non-contiguous radiographic abnormality. The most common injury in older children was flexion-distraction injury, often associated with intraabdominal trauma. Adolescents tended to sustain injury patterns similar to adults.