Spondylolisthesis in pre-school children

Abstract

Although the natural history of spondylolisthesis is poorly described, we know that it is rare to see the condition in children before they are 5 or 6 years old. Treatment in these patients may be confusing because there is very little literature on the subject, and most papers are case reports. We present a series of eight pre-school patients (mean age 3.5 years; range 9 months to 5 years) with spondylolisthesis with an average follow up of 11.5 years (range 9-14 years). In our experience, general guidelines for treatment as given by Wiltse and Jackson are useful in patients younger than 5 years. Nowadays we have to keep strict control of these patients due to their important capacity for growth that increases the possibility of further slippage.

Operative treatment of isthmic spondylolisthesis in children: a long-term, retrospective comparative study with matched cohorts

“…In the authors' opinion their clinical symptoms are an expression of root irritation and/or certain instability during slip progression when the pelvis is realigned to maintain sagittal balance and to relieve root compression/tension. The observation of more postural anomalies and less severe pain symptoms in children has also been made by other authors [4,5,14,21,29].…”

“…The overwhelming majority of sources from the literature dealing with this entity in growing individuals present children and adolescents as one group [15,16,18,[24][25][26]. There are only a few publications reporting results on young children and even in them, the patients are generally postpubertal at the time of surgery [5,6,15,23].…”

Cerebral palsy lifetime care – four musculoskeletal conditions

“…The prevalence of spondylolysis has been estimated at 4.4% at 6 years of age, increasing to the adult rate of 6% by 14 years of age 40 . With one exception, a defect in the pars interarticularis has never been identified at birth 41–44 . Spondylolisthesis can be associated with spondylolysis, the development of which is infrequent after the age of 6 years in able‐bodied children 22…”

“…40 With one exception, a defect in the pars interarticularis has never been identified at birth. [41][42][43][44] Spondylolisthesis can be associated with spondylolysis, the development of which is infrequent after the age of 6 years in able-bodied children. 22 Reports in the literature have identified the prevalence of spondylolysis in weight-bearing adults with CP with or without dystonia as between 21% and 30%.…”