Tethered cord release and chiari

[JessicaHensarling]

My son's neurosurgeon confirmed that his spinal cord is low lying and tethered and in fact the cause of his chiari. With that said, I am curious to know how many people who have chiari as a result of a tethered cord required both untethering and decompression. And what symptoms diminished after just untethering?

[selmaS]

  Hi Jessica, I was scheduled for the de-tethering surgery but a week b4 my Drs changed their minds, and decided the decompression would offer me more benefits, I had my surgery in May of '09 and have not had to get the cord released so far.....I was also told I may also need a fusion as I also have CCI but that too, has been on hold and I am happy about that.

I had a partially retroflexed odontoid that was not seen at first and why they felt that was the way to go, and I know they were right......

We have to have Drs we are both confident in and comfortable with and them having the experience and knowledge of ALL related conditions is going to help us decide which route to take.

Does your son  have EDS too ? From those that have had the de-tethering surgery some have had to have it re-done a few times bcuz they also have EDS and are prone to form scar tissue which can cause it to re-tether, so knowing that is big.....

I am sure your son's Dr is weighing all the info as to which surgery to do first ....I do know that some that have decompression first have had to head in for the de-tethering shorty after as the cord can be pulled even more once they do an laminectomy which makes that area weaker then it was....

This is a lot of info and I know is not an answer to your questions, but I hope it helps in some way.