Low back pain as an unusual presentation in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Abstract

Acute leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer. The clinical presentation of acute leukaemia includes fever, pallor, bleeding tendencies, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and bone pains. This case is about a 7-year-old boy who presented with 2 months of progressive low back pain after jumping into the sea. Radiologic workup showed compression fractures in the T6–L5 regions of the spine. Trauma and osteogenesis imperfecta were considered initially until the patient developed the classic features of leukaemia. Analysis of the bone marrow aspirate, 2 months after the sea incident, revealed B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The low back pain subsided after a week of chemotherapy. A symptom that involves bone pain in a child needs thorough evaluation because a delay in diagnosis affects the outcome of treatment. ALL has been lingering at the time of his accident and this has caused weakening of his spine that resulted in much more severe injury than would have occurred in the absence of the ALL.