[The coordination of care for the spina bifida patient. 8 years of experience].

We have analyzed some factors which can show the special health care given to spina bifida patients in two periods, from 1971, when the set Hospital was set up, to 1985 and from 1985 to 1991. In 1985 the position of medical coordinator for spina bifida was created, and at the same time, a spina bifida consultancy was set up. This consultancy was created to improve this coordination and to analyze urological problems. In the first period, there were 54 affected in our Hospital. Now there are 68 patients. The most important goal achieved with this coordination is the improvement in the relationship between the patient, family and doctor, based on a personalized attention, even though this is a difficult subject to quantify. Since 1985 we have seen a lower number of visits to the consultancies in general, but mainly in neurosurgery, urology and orthopedics, a mean of 119 in first period and 45 in the second period. The number of consultancy visits has been the same since the consultancy was set up (46 per year). The number of patients admitted to in hospital was also decreasing. The spina bifida consultancy involves only an hours work a week, the urology ward has been integrated into this, and this avoids the handicapped having to attend other specialized wards so often. The consultancy structure lets us send urine analyses results by post or recover the test results on the same day they are done. Analysing the number of X-ray examinations performed on those patients, the coordinators value is evident: we got a lower number of X-ray examinations, especially invasive, e.g. cystographies and urographies, the latter because they have been replaced by echographies.