Intradural mesh: an unusual cause of spinal cord tethering

Abstract

A 13-year-old boy with a myelomeningocele experienced progressive foot deformity and lower-extremity pain while walking. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a low-lying spinal cord with scarring near the site of a previous repair. During surgery, the terminal nerve roots were found to have scarred and adhered to a piece of metal mesh lying in the intradural space. The mesh had originally been placed to bridge a sacral ossification defect that was present at the initial closure of the child's myelomeningocele.