Pneumorachide cervicale. Descrizione di un caso post-traumatico in una bambina di otto anni

We describe an eight-year-old girl who developed cervical pneumorachis after traumatic injury. The child presented subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema and subluxation of the large horns of the hyoid bone disclosed by CT scan a few hours after an accidental fall with mandibular impact. The CT scan also showed a left paramedian collection of air in the spinal canal probably caused by a minor tracheal lesion with passage of air in the posterior mediastinum, paravertebral soft tissues and through the nerve sheaths in the extradural spine. The CT picture normalized after ten days. The presence of air in the epidural space of the spinal canal is more commonly associated with epidural abscess, disc degeneration and sometimes lumbar puncture. Some literature reports describe cases of pneumorachis secondary to pelvic trauma.