Comparison of Sacral Ratio in Normal Children and Children with Urinary and/or Faecal Complaints

Objective: Sacral ratio (SR) measurements in children with urinary and faecal complaints is less than that in normal children.
Material & Methods: We performed the current study on 401 normal and 193 children with urinary and/or faecal complaints from April 2002 to April 2003. None of the children in either group had a history of a known neurologic disease, myelodysplasia, cloacal exstrophy, Hirschprung`s disease, ureteropelvic junction obstruction, ureterovesical junction obstruction or anorectal malformation. Due to ethical and health aspects, we couldn’t request radiography in completely normal children to determine SR.
Findings: The normal value for SR in antero-posterior view (APSR) ranged from 0.36-1.33 with an average of 0.71. The mean APSR in patients with urinary and/or faecal signs and symptoms (case group) was 0.554. The differences of SR values between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). The curve of mean APSR and age in normal group shows no obvious steepness but the curve in case group has an obvious slope with increasing age to adolescence.
Conclusion: The SR is considered as a reliable tool to evaluate sacral development in patients with urinary and/or faecal complaints. It has a wide range of values and should be noted abnormal when it is less than 0.4. Age has a significant influence on SR values in children with urinary and/or faecal complaints.