Cervical Interspinous Ligament Sprain in a 6-Year-Old Boy

Paediatric cervical spine trauma, though rare, is difficult to detect as the injuries are often soft-tissue injuries and thus not visible using conventional radiography. A 6-and-a-half-year-old child presented with neck pain following a fall. A thorough radiological workup over several days demonstrated soft-tissue injuries, undetected by initial cervical X-rays, requiring MRI to definitively prove. The patient recovered with conservative treatment. Teaching Point: Paediatric cervical spine injuries often present with soft tissue injuries, which can missed on X-rays and require further imaging to detect.