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.