Surgical treatment of tethered cord syndrome showed promising outcome in young children with short duration

M. Liu, W. Deng, Y.Y. Lu, Y.Z. He, L.Y. Huang, H. Du

Department of Nerve Electrophysiology, Wuhan Children’s Hospital (Wuhan Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital), Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. duhao_70@yahoo.com

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• Neurosurgery
• Pediatrics

OBJECTIVE: Aside from the severity, surgical interventions for the treatment of neurological dysfunctions remain controversial. This study aimed to find factors predicting the benefits of tethered cord syndrome (TCS) surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 80 children with TCS were included and followed up for pre- and post-operative factors along with neurophysiological analysis. Outcomes were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS: Surgical treatment not only improved preoperative signs and symptoms in 79% of TCS patients but it showed to be an efficient procedure for the occurrence of future neurological defects. Univariate analysis also revealed that surgical intervention in TCS children (age <1 year) can modulate filar lipoma location and cutaneous abnormalities three months after surgery. Neurophysiological assessment revealed only 5.0% of surgical complications in TCS patients. Two patients had cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and two cases of CNS infection were detected.

CONCLUSIONS: Surgical intervention is highly recommended for the prevention of neurological deficits in children with TCS. Electrophysiological monitoring revealed rare complications following the surgery.

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