Urological findings in patients with neurosurgically treated tethered spinal cord.

We studied 42 consecutive patients with spina bifida to ascertain the urological relevance of the tethered spinal cord in this condition. We evaluated 35 patients before untethering and 21 with pathological findings after untethering. The main difference after untethering was an increase in bladder capacity in 10 of 17 patients. The general clinical condition improved in 13 patients, was stable in 5 and became worse in 3.