[Injuries of the spinal cord and vertebral column in children and adolescents]

A review of 127 pediatric patients admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery between 1965 and 1993 because of spinal cord and vertebral column injuries is presented. The aim of this paper is to relate clinical appearance and age of the patient. Patients were subdivided into two age groups on the grounds of skeletal development features. The first included 22 patients (3-14 years of age), the second one included 105 patients (15-18 years of age). Accident type, injury mechanism, level of the spinal injury and type of treatment differed in these groups as was found clinically and statistically. Younger group was mostly treated conservatively and the results of treatment were better.