Treatment for spina bifida

How is open spina bifida treated?

Most commonly the baby will be seen by a paediatric neurosurgeon shortly after birth. The surgeon will then decide whether the baby should have surgery to repair the defect in the back: this surgery will take place in a specialist unit usually within 48 hours. Sometimes, in large lesions or premature babies, there may not be enough skin available to close the lesion right away, and the Plastic Surgery Team may be involved.

It may be possible, under certain circumstances, to operate on the baby’s lesion in the womb, before 26 weeks of pregnancy. See Shine’s information on prenatal surgery, and talk to your Fetal Medicine clinicians urgently if you are pregnant and would like to know more.