[Stab wounds of the spinal cord by a kitchen knife: report of a case]

A case of spinal cord injury due to stab wounds by a kitchen knife is presented. A 41-year-old male was hospitalized because of spinal cord injury resulting from stab wounds inflicted with a kitchen knife in the posterior cervical area. Neurological examination on admission showed paraplegia, disappearance of deep tendon reflex in both lower extremities, sensory disturbance below T1 level, left Horner's syndrome and urinary disturbance. In addition to these symptoms cerebrospinal fluid was leaking from the wounds. An emergency operation was performed. After laminectomy of C7 and T1, we found that the spinal cord was almost completely split at C7/T1 level. Dural plasty was performed. Neurologically, sensory disturbance was slightly improved at 4 months after the injury. Initial MRI (TR: 200 msec, TE: 20 msec) revealed high intensity at C7/T1 level which was damaged by the kitchen knife. MRI 5 months after the injury revealed low intensity on T1 weighted imaged, high intensity on T2 and proton weighted image. The occurrence of the spinal cord injury due to stab wounds by a kitchen knife is very rare in Japan. MRI is useful in the diagnosis of stab wounds of the spinal cord.