What tests are needed for dermal sinus tracts?

Patients, especially children, with spinal cord tethered syndrome should be alert for clinical manifestations of dermal sinus tracts or subcutaneous masses. Tetheredcordsyndrome (TCS) is a syndrome in which the spinal cord or conus is stretched due to various congenital and acquired causes, resulting in a series of neurological dysfunctions and deformities. TCS is also known as hypospadias because the spinal cord is most often stretched in the lumbosacral medulla, causing the cones to be abnormally low. Congenital cutaneous sinus tracts (dorsaldermalsinusesofcongenitalorigin): These sinus tracts are due to the failure to separate the neural tube from the surface embedded skin. Sinus tracts are commonly found in the lumbosacral region, head, and chest; most of them present only as deep depressions, and true sinus tracts are rare; the skin at the sinus tract may be normal, hairy, or hemangioma, and may be accompanied by spina bifida; sinus tracts as an entrance can cause manifestations of meningitis, abscesses, and osteomyelitis, and dermatomal cysts caused by sinus tracts can cause compression symptoms. If the sinus tract causes central nervous system infection or compression symptoms, surgery should be performed. Dermatomal sinus tracts are syndromes in which the spinal cord or conus is pulled by various congenital and acquired factors, causing the conus to descend and producing a series of neurological dysfunctions and deformities. Although it is a relatively small percentage of neurosurgical disorders, with an incidence of less than 1%, it is a relatively common congenital condition. There are many methods to examine the dermal sinus tract, MRI is preferred, followed by CT, X-ray, etc. In addition to these examination methods, the dermal sinus tract can also be examined according to the following introduction: 1. Neuroelectrophysiological examination: It can be used as a means to diagnose the dermal sinus tract and determine the recovery of neurological function after surgery. After measuring the electrophysiology of sacral reflex in patients with spinal cord embolism syndrome, it was found that the shortening of sacral reflex latency is one of the electrophysiological characteristics of spinal cord embolism syndrome. While the SSEPs of the posterior tibial nerve in patients with secondary dermal sinus tracts were measured, it was found that the SSEPs were reduced or negative, and after re-surgical release, the SSEPs of the posterior tibial nerve were elevated, confirming the recovery of nerve function after end filament release surgery. Ultrasound: In patients <1 year old, because the posterior structure of the spinal canal is not fully mature and ossified, ultrasound can show the spinal cord cone, and can determine whether there is re-embolization after surgery according to the pulsation of the spinal cord. 3, bladder function tests: including intravesical pressure measurement, cystoscopy and urethral sphincter electromyography. Patients with dermatomal sinus tracts may present with abnormalities such as sphincter-uretic muscle ataxia, increased (spasticity) or decreased (hypotonicity) intravesical pressure, and changes in bladder residual urine volume. Preoperative and postoperative bladder function tests are useful to determine the efficacy of the procedure.