Abdominal Pain

Spinal cord astrocytoma: a unique presentation of abdominal pain

“…There are only a few reported cases of pediatric spinal cord astrocytomas presenting with abdominal pain [2] . In one of the earliest documented cases, the researchers concluded that a spinal cord mass is more likely to be the cause of abdominal pain when accompanied by progressive paralysis and a sensory level [3] .…”

“…At diagnosis, physical examination was normal for only 1 patient. Three displayed hyperreflexia, 3 had thoracic scoliosis, and 2 had a positive Babinski sign [2] . This is where our patient differs; his examination at diagnosis revealed hyporeflexia and unilateral weakness without positive Babinski sign.…”

“…Other less common causes include oncological processes such as intra-abdominal masses and, even rarer, extra-abdominal tumors. Here, we describe one of only a few reported instances of recurrent pediatric abdominal pain caused by a spinal cord astrocytoma and perform a review of the literature [1] , [2] .…”