We report the case of a healthy 9-year-old boy admitted to intensive care after suffering a frontal collision.
He traveled on the back seat of the car, not adapted or elevator, subject to the seat belt.
On admission, the patient presented hemodynamic stability, normal neurological examination and referred back and abdominal pain.
It presents lacerations and hematomas in both flanks and hypogastrium following a "belt" path, painful to palpation.
No motor or sensory deficits were observed.
Blood tests were normal.
Cervical (anteroposterior and lateral), thoracic and pelvic radiographs were performed, in which no fractures or other injuries were observed.
No alterations were observed either in conventional non-pelvic CT scans or in two-dimensional digital reconstructions in the coronal axis.
Due to the persistence of severe spontaneous lumbar pain and fixation, a lateral X-ray of the lumbar spine was performed at 24 h, which showed a Chance type L2 fracture.
MRI of the dorsolumbar spine confirmed the fracture and showed hematoma of adjacent soft tissues with ligament rupture.
The patient remained at rest and underwent surgery a week later, without incidents, to stabilize the fracture.
