Tissue attachments that limit movement of the spinal cord cause a condition known as tethered spinal cord disorder. Abnormal stretching of the spinal cord occurs due to this progressive disorder, and it may not be diagnosed until adulthood, when sensory and motor problems and loss of bowel and bladder control occur.
Scoliosis
Scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, is a complication of tethered spinal cord disorder that is commonly diagnosed in both adults and children. When scoliosis develops in children 3 years of age or younger, physicians most often treat it as an indicator of serious congenital or neurodegenerative disorders, including tethered spinal cord disorder. Surgical intervention becomes necessary if the scoliosis is particularly severe, but often physicians opt to use other nonoperative techniques to allow for spinal growth, resulting in a later spinal procedure to treat the tethered spinal cord disorder.
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence, or the loss of bladder control, often occurs, but when combined with other symptoms may indicate tethered spinal cord disorder. Those with nerve damage, which can be caused by a tethered spinal cord, often experience urge and overflow incontinence. This can lead to the need for catheterization. As this complication of tethered spinal cord disorder progresses, incontinence worsens. The bladder holds less urine and leaks higher volumes of urine between catheterizations, resulting in the need to catheterize more often.
Fatty Masses on the Lower Back
Approximately half of patients with spina bifida, which includes tethered spinal cord disorder, show skin-related symptoms along the spine. Physicians who see fatty masses or lipomas on the lower back usually suspect a tethered spinal cord and seek to confirm the by ordering a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, or ultrasound of that area of the spine. This complication of tethered spinal cord disorder is generally not dangerous.
References
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome Information Page
- University of Florida Department of Neurosurgery: Spinal Deformity - Scioliosis and and Kyphotic Deformities
- The Mayo Clinic: Urinary Incontinence
- Continence Management and Spinal Bifida: Tethered Cord Syndrome
- Journal of Neuroscience Nursing on Entrepeneur: Primary Tethered Cord Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment of an Insidious Defect
