Prolapsed lumbar disc in a nine years old girl: a case report

Abstract

Lumbar disc prolapse has been rarely described in young children. In this report, we reported a lumbar disc prolapse in an overweight 9-year-old girl after trauma. The girl had a severe radicular pain that did not respond to conservative treatment. Operative management was conducted, and histopathologic examination of the prolapsed disc material revealed chondrocyte proliferation, tears and clefts of the annulus fibrosus, and fibrocartilaginous degeneration. These early degenerative changes suggested the effect of the high body mass index as an underlying factor for the disc prolapse in this girl.