Spondylolytic spondylolisthesis in an adolescent with celiac disease: Case report

Abstract

Background: The literature review indicates no reports of children and adolescents with spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis diagnosed with celiac disease (CD). Case report: This study presents a 15-year-old female with pain referred to the abdomen and the lower back, which had deteriorated and did not respond to medical treatment during the last few months. Her history revealed a previous diagnosis of CD. Her clinical and imaging findings indicated the diagnosis of acquired spondylolytic spondylolisthesis. Conclusion: A potential pathogenic relationship between spondylolysis-spondylolisthesis and CD, indicating that systemic metabolic bone changes influencing the mineralization of bone structures could facilitate isthmic lysis, was not verified. However, the diagnosis of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, even as a coincidental pathology, should always be sufficiently considered to require an orthopaedic consultation in patients suffering from CD and other inflammatory intestinal diseases, spinal inflammatory arthritis or abdominal and pelvic pathologies, which may commonly present with pain referred to the abdomen and/or the lower back.

Keywords

• Spondylolysis/spondylolisthesis
• Celiac/coeliac disease
• Low back pain
• Children-adolescents