Acupuncture as an Adjuvant Therapy for Tethered Cord Syndrome: A Case Report

Introduction: Tethered cord syndrome (TCS) is defined as a diverse clinical condition wherein excessive tension on the spinal cord produces a variety of symptoms and signs. Its clinical symptoms include motor deficits, deformities of the lower extremities, lower leg sensory deficits, pain in the lower extremities, back pain, and dysuria. Current treatments mainly focus on surgical treatment to arrest the progression of the TCS. Here, we present a case where the patient’s symptoms improved significantly after the acupuncture treatment. Case Description: A 42-year-old woman was admitted to our department because of dysfunction of urination and defecation. She was diagnosed with sacral dysplasia and TCS on January 2022. After undergoing spinal cord hiatus malformation release surgery and tethered cord release surgery, she still felt difficulty urinating and defecating and also felt weakness in both lower limbs. After 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment, the patient’s TCS symptoms improved significantly. Conclusion: Acupuncture may be an adjuvant therapy option for TCS.