? About Sacral Dimple

Specialties Pediatric

Published

hello,

I am not looking for medical advice or anything, just a little insight. I noticed my newborn son has a sacral dimple, not an extremely deep one, but still concerning. The first ped that I showed, felt there was no need to do anything about it. His regular Ped ordered an U/S for next week. I am freaking out. My question is how often does the dimple mean something deeper is going on?? I have seen different info on the web about this, from not significant if it's not really deep, to it could be quite serious..

I am so freaking out over this, even though my Ped seemed to be ordering the U/S to put my mind at ease...I hope anyway.

Thanks!

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Both of my daughters had the same thing. They were born in different hospitals and had different doctors, and both times the doctors were not at all concerned and the dimples turned out to be nothing. In fact as they grew and filled out, they eventually disappeared. With my second daughter, I expressed concern at the hospital and then again at her first check up with the family doctor. The famliy doctor said the only thing that could be a problem is that it was a possible infection risk, but if it was anything else (like spina bifida or something) that we would already be seeing symptoms of that and of course we weren't seeing any symptoms of anything. They were both perfectly healthy. I am glad your doctor is going a head with a U/S. It will definitely put your mind at ease, and I hope and pray that everything turns out well for your baby!!

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No medical advice here, but my story. For some odd reason...I didn't do the normall new mom thorough check out of my daughter (#3) I have to say it was the drugs! Anyway....the next day I get her home and freak out.....it looks like she has a second butt crack. LOL. Of course I was thinking all types of things! Doc said that it should fill in, but they coudl do an ultrasound latter to look into it if it doesn't change.

She is fine now and 2 yrs old.

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but if it was anything else (like spina bifida or something) that we would already be seeing symptoms of that and of course we weren't seeing any symptoms of anything.

I'm glad everything worked out okay, but how long ago was a physician telling someone this?

These days, we know that spina bifida occulta (the type associated with sacral dimples) often doesn't show any signs until adolescence or adulthood when the cord has a chance to tether.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sacral-dimple/ds00753

found by google'ing "sacral dimple".

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Thanks for the replies. They will be able to see if there is any problems now though w/ an U/S right? Also, I think the concern is there is some hair in the dimple:o ,which I guess is not a good sign. My son is quite hairy at this time though..all fuzzy over back, legs, butt.

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

My son who is now 6 was born with a sacral dimple, and the ped advised getting an ultrasound. I had to wait until he was 6 weeks old to do the ultrasound, and of course those weeks were filled with panic and reading everything I could find on the internet about spina bifida occulta etc. etc. Fortunately the ultrasound showed nothing unusual. What they're looking for is if the vertebra failed to close.

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Hi ChayaN

I was just wondering how deep was the dimple ans was there a tuft of hair? Our U/S is Tues..I am a wreck!

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

When he was an infant it was deep, with a few hairs. Not a thick tuft. Now it's just a small indentation, about the size of a fingertip.

The doctor reassured me about a million times that most likely there's nothing wrong and the u/s is just a precaution. Still I was panicking... The hardest part was that before I became pregnant I had been taking a medication that's known to cause spinal defects. I had stopped the drug and the doctor told me it was safe to become pregnant, but I was so afraid that I had caused this. Thank G-d everything was fine.

Good luck on the u/s - they should be able to tell you right away if there's a problem.

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I am such a mess. My sons is pretty deep with a tuft of hair. My son is pretty hairy everywhere right now though. I can see the bottom of the dimple.

I wasn't trying to conceive at the time so I wasn't taking any prenatal vitamins until after I found out I was pregnant. So, I feel pretty guilty about that.

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Specializes in Peds Urology,primary care, hem/onc.

Hello,

I am a PNP in Urology and we often see kids that we find sacral dimples on when we examine them. If they are infants, we always get ultrasounds (painless and an easy exam) to rule out spina bifida. There are cases (though very rare) that I have seen older children with tethered cords that end up needing surgery. It is good practice to have an ultrasound and more than likely it will end up being normal. I hope everything goes well.

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