Spina Bifida

Spina Bifida is a birth defect where the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly. “What happens is you can end up with this open patch of the skin where the spinal cord is literally laying there open to the air and not even rolled up properly,” said Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Theodore Spinks.

It affects nearly 1,500 babies a year. “Kids with severe forms of spina bifida is also have Chiari malformation, they get scoliosis, they could have bladder problems, and parents ask how many problems does my kid have one or 50? And the answer is they have one problem but it affects 50 different things,” said Dr. Spinks.

Dr. Spinks likes to operate within 24 hours for severe cases. “You have an opening, so there is an infection risk. You also have an attachment of the spinal cord so it’s stuck so as the child grows, the spinal cord can’t pull up properly, and it tends to tug on the bottom of the brain which causes movement of the brain back here called a Chiari.”

While it is a lifelong condition, with the right care, many kids can live fulfilling lives. “With that disease, those kids are a lot of work to take care of. They need a lot of care a lot of specialty care, but there’s benefit there’s a reward those kids can go on a live pretty normal lives go to college, even some have become neurosurgeons,” said Dr. Spinks.

Not all Spina Bifida cases are the same…the severity can be thought of on a spectrum. You can learn more by searching for pediatric neurosurgery on leehealth.org.



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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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