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Case Reports
. 2015 Nov;49(5):e143-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2015.06.065. Epub 2015 Sep 12.

Pediatric Surfer's Myelopathy

Shernaz Wadia  1 , Pradeep Padmanabhan  1 , Karen Moeller  2 , Anna Rominger  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pediatric Surfer's Myelopathy

Shernaz Wadia et al. J Emerg Med. 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Background: We present the case of the youngest known patient diagnosed with surfer's myelopathy. Surfer's myelopathy is a rare nontraumatic myelopathy. The most likely etiology, presumably, is arterial insufficiency related to spine hyperextension. Symptoms consist of back pain, urinary incontinence or retention, paraplegia, and sensory loss.

Case report: A 7-year-old girl presented with back pain, urinary retention, and lower extremity weakness after doing backbends during a cheerleading practice the day prior to presentation. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: With the trend of children becoming increasingly active in competitive sports at a younger age, surfer's myelopathy is a diagnosis that should be considered when the symptoms are present and the history consists of hyperextending the back. As in our case, a seemingly benign trauma can lead to the diagnosis of surfer's myelopathy.

Keywords: back injury; spinal cord injury; surfer's myelopathy.

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