Due to this defect the child has swelling or protrusion anywhere along the spine. This protrusion incorporates spinal chord coverings and cerebrospianal fluid and varying amount of nerve tissue. Depending upon the contents it is termed as meningocoele, meningomyelocoele or encphalocoele if brain tissue is also incorporated.
Sometimes there is no protrusion but a tuft of hair at the back.

Results of the surgery:

The surgery is done early and is aimed at closing the defect in the spinal canal. The results depend on the nature of the defect. Any hairy patch can be removed effectively by skin grafting.