Spine ultrasounds should not be routinely performed for patients with simple sacral dimples.

UNLABELLED: Primary care providers commonly obtain spine ultrasounds for neonates with simple sacral dimples due to perceived concerns about underlying spinal dysraphism, despite a lack of scientific evidence. Nine papers addressing routine spine ultrasounds for children with sacral dimples showed that 3.4% of the 5166 patients had abnormal spine ultrasounds, compared with the 4.8% reported by another study for children without sacral dimples. Most of the abnormal findings in patients with sacral dimples were of no clinical significance.

CONCLUSION: Sacral dimples do not predict underlying spinal cord malformations, and spine ultrasounds should not be performed for neonates with simple sacral dimples.