Lumbar spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality in a child: an exceptional form of presentation

SCIWORA is an uncommon syndrome affecting mainly children and is defined as the occurrence of acute spinal cord injury despite normal plain radiography and normal computed tomography (CT). Lumbar SCIWORA is very rare in children, and to our knowledge, there is only one report of lumbar SCIWORA in the literature. We present the case of a 5 year-old boy who suffered acute bilateral lower limbs paralysis, associated to urinary and bowel incontinence following a 1.5 meter fall. Lumbar cord contusion could be demonstrated on MRI without other radiologic abnormalities, which confirmed SCIWORA diagnosis. Our case report illustrates the potential seriousness of this disease and the importance of a thorough and accurate clinical history for diagnosis.