Posttraumatic scoliosis.

Abstract

A case of posttraumatic scoliosis due a misdiagnosed lumbosacral unilateral dislocation was observed 6 weeks after a traffic injury in a 15-year-old boy. Cobb angle was 30 degrees on T10-L4 with 20 degrees rotation on L1 and L2. Initial radiographs were normal. The scoliosis was corrected after surgical correction of the dislocation; at 5-year follow-up, the patient worked normally; there was no scoliosis. The suggested physiopathology of this structural scoliosis is similar to spondylolisthetic scoliosis of childhood in which asymmetrical forward displacement of the vertebral body results in rotational shift of the vertebra, with lumbar scoliosis. Correction of the scoliosis depends on correction of the lumbosacral dislocation.