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Lumbar Apophyseal Ring Fracture- A Case Report
Ravi Kumar T V1, Raghavendra Rao1, Daksh Gadi2
1Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, M S Ramaiah Medical College , Bangalore, India .
Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research : JCDR
|July 9, 2015
Summary
Posterior apophyseal ring fracture (PRAF) is a rare cause of low back pain in adolescents, often missed on X-rays. Surgical decompression alone effectively treated a case with a calcified disc fragment.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Radiology
- Neurosurgery
Background:
- Posterior apophyseal ring fracture (PRAF) is an uncommon condition in adolescents due to incomplete fusion of the ring apophysis and vertebral body.
- PRAF often mimics disc herniation in pediatric and adolescent populations, frequently associated with disc lesions.
Observation:
- A case of PRAF presented with a calcified disc adherent to the dura, causing symptoms in an adolescent patient.
- Conventional radiography often fails to diagnose PRAF, necessitating a high index of suspicion in evaluating adolescent low back pain.
Findings:
- The study reports successful surgical management of PRAF with a calcified disc fragment.
- Decompression surgery alone, without discectomy, proved effective in this specific case.
Implications:
- Highlights the importance of considering PRAF in adolescent low back pain, even when imaging is inconclusive.
- Suggests that surgical decompression without discectomy may be a viable treatment option for select PRAF cases with dural adhesion.
