Guidelines for treating spinal cord injury without radiological abnormalities in children

Abstract

Spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality (SCIWORA) is a rare condition that predominantly affects children. The enigmatic nature of SCIWORA poses significant challenges in terms of diagnosis, treatment, and achieving full recovery. Various factors, such as different injury mechanisms, delayed symptom onset, normal magnetic resonance imaging findings in certain cases, and complex management decisions, contribute to the challenges of dealing with SCIWORA. Attaining a significant outcome and complete recovery through a single-treatment approach is difficult. Therefore, a multifaceted treatment strategy is proposed to yield more favorable results. This paper comprehensively addresses the assessment and management, examination and diagnosis procedures, treatment methods, rehabilitation techniques, and potential complications associated with SCIWORA in children. The paper provides therapeutic guidance for physicians and medical staff, with the aim of enhancing survival rates and improving recovery outcomes. Moreover, it offers suggestions for restoring neurological functions in pediatric patients suffering from SCIWORA.