OBJECTIVES: To investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of anorectal manometry measurements in children with tethered cord syndrome (TCS) before and after surgery. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 44 children with TCS treated at the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2022 to September 2023. These patients were divided into effective subgroup (n=34) and non-effective subgroup (n=10) based on postoperative symptom improvement. Additionally, 34 children with functional constipation were selected as a control group. Baseline data and manometry measurements were compared between the preoperative TCS group and the control group, as well as between the non-effective and effective subgroups. RESULTS: The TCS group had lower short contraction time and defecation relaxation rate compared to the control group (P<0.05), while defecation residual pressure and maximum rectal tolerable threshold were higher than the control group (P<0.05). The length of the anal canal in the high-pressure zone in the effective subgroup was greater postoperatively than preoperatively (P<0.05), and the initial rectal sensation threshold decreased postoperatively (P<0.05). The non-effective subgroup had lower preoperative maximum rectal expulsion pressure compared to the effective subgroup (P<0.05). Postoperative rectal anal inhibition reflex values in the effective subgroup were higher than those in the non-effective subgroup (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS There are some differences in anorectal dynamics between children with TCS and those with functional constipation. Maximum rectal expulsion pressure may be a key predictor of surgical outcomes. Surgery can alter certain defecation functions in some children.
Humans ; Male ; Anal Canal/physiopathology* ; Female ; Rectum/physiopathology* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Retrospective Studies ; Manometry ; Neural Tube Defects/physiopathology* ; Infant ; Defecation ; Adolescent ; Constipation/physiopathology* ; Clinical Relevance

A 50-year-old male presented with acutely progressed paraplegia. His magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated two well-demarcated components with opposite signals in one cystic lesion between the T1- and T2-weighted images at the T1 spine level. The patient showed immediately improved neurological symptoms after surgical intervention and the histopathological exam was compatible with a neurenteric cyst. On operation, two different viscous drainages from the cyst were confirmed. A unique similarity of image findings was found from a review of the pertinent literature. The common findings of spinal neurenteric cyst include an isointense or mildly hyperintense signal relative to cerebrospinal fluid for both T1- and T2-weighted images. However, albeit rarer, the signals of some part of the cyst could change into brightly hyperintensity on T1-weighted images and hypointensity on T2-weighted images due to the differing sedimentation of the more viscous contents in the cyst.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Neural Tube Defects/diagnosis/physiopathology/surgery ; *Spinal Cord/pathology/surgery ; *Spinal Cord Diseases/diagnosis/physiopathology/surgery