Similar effects were found in redox behavior of tethered spinal cord during the surgical procedures to repair it. This can be due to impairment of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism under constant or intermittent stretching. The act of prolonged stretching can lead to structural damage to the neural perikarya and eventually the axons in neurons. The untethering process can improve the oxidative metabolism and can help to repair injured neurons. Diagnosis
For children younger than eight weeks of age (and possibly in utero), a tethered cord may be observed using ultrasonography. Ultrasonography may still be useful through age 5 in limited circumstances. MRI imaging appears to be the gold standard for diagnosing a tethered cord.A tethered cord is often diagnosed as a "low conus." The conus medullaris (or lower termination of the spinal cord) normally terminates at or above the L1-2 disk space (where L1 is the first, or topmost lumbar vertebra). After about 3 months of age, a conus below the L1-2 disk space may indicate a tethered cord and termination below L3-4 is unmistakably tethered. "Cord tethering is often assumed when the conus is below the normal L2-3 level. TCS, however, is a clinical diagnosis that should be based on "neurological and musculoskeletal signs and symptoms. Imaging features are in general obtained to support rather than make the diagnosis." This is especially true for cases of occult tethered cord, where the patient has the symptoms of tethered cord syndrome but MRI reveals the conus to be above the L2 level.
Tethered cord syndrome (TCS) refers to a group of neurological disorders that relate to malformations of the spinal cord. Various forms include tight filum terminale, lipomeningomyelocele, split cord malformations (diastematomyelia), occult, dermal sinus tracts, and dermoids. All forms involve the pulling of the spinal cord at the base of the spinal canal, literally a tethered cord. The spinal cord normally hangs loose in the canal, free to move up and down with growth, and with bending and stretching. A tethered cord, however, is held taut at the end or at some point in the spinal canal. In children, a tethered cord can force the spinal cord to stretch as they grow. In adults the spinal cord stretches in the course of normal activity, usually leading to progressive spinal cord damage if untreated. TCS is often associated with the closure of a spina bifida. It can be congenital, such as in tight filum terminale, or the result of injury later in life. Signs and symptoms
In children, symptoms may include:

Lesions, hairy patches, dimples, hemangiomas, or fatty tumours on the lower back
Foot and spinal deformities
Weakness in the legs (loss of muscle strength and tone)
Change in or abnormal gait including awkwardness while running or wearing the tips or side of one shoe
Low back pain
Scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine to the left or right)
Urinary irregularities (incontinence or retention)Tethered spinal cord syndrome may go undiagnosed until adulthood, when sensory, motor, bowel, and bladder control issues emerge.