In this chapter. clinical examination of the spine in the child is described. The main pathology here is scoliosis and a simplified method of assessing a child with scoliosis is described. This method is similar to a lumbar spine examination, except that during the examination process a few specific points are noted: When inspecting, look for other stigmata associated with scoliosis such as café-au-lait spots. When palpating, remember to use a plumb line, which indicates whether the scoliosis is balanced. When asking the patient to move, look for the rib prominence (Adam’s test) indicating structural scoliosis. Finally, when performing a neurological assessment, remember to look at the abdominal reflexes.

This chapter also covers kyphosis and other conditions such as torticollis.