A case of cervical kyphosis after a minor trauma

We have experienced a case of 10-years-old boy who had cervical kyphosis after a minor trauma. On April 4th in 2004, he felt “cervical click” when leaning on the sofa with his neck over-flexed to watch TV at his home. Just after this episode, he had neck pain. He came to our hospital for fixed flexed neck position and severe neck pain on April 8th. His neck was fixed in remarkably flexed position without rotation. In cervical X-ray photograph, the C2–C7 kyphotic angle was 44°. The atlanto-axial rotatory fixation (AARF) did not exist on cervical CT although there was slight asymmetry of atlanto-dental intervals in open mouth view. MRI of his cervical spine showed no abnormal findings about spinal cord and spinal canal although signal intensity of disc from C2 to C6 was low in T2WI. He took rest on the bed all day and received Glisson’s traction of 2 kg for 4 days after admission. After 3 days, his neck pain disappeared and cervical posture became normal. AARF is known as a cervical deformity, which is caused after trivial force. Our cervical kyphosis is much similar to AARF in the clinical pictures.