FOR SCIATICA

Sciatica.

The mundane malady sciatica has been known to physicians since antiquity.1 It is pain that radiates from the buttock downward along the course of the sciatic nerve,2 but the term has been used indiscriminately for a variety of back and leg symptoms. Although sciatica has several causes, Mixter and Barr extended previous observations to establish in 1934 that the principal source is compression ...

Sciatica: A Fresh Study

Following a historical survey of the views generally held regarding the essential lesion underlying sciatica, the writer elaborates his own view that sciatica is really an affection of the hip-joint, rheumatic or gouty in origin. The steps by which he arrives at this opinion are ingenious and reasonable. They are anatomical and clinical, and are fully considered in the book, which should be con...

Unsuspected reason for sciatica in Bertolotti's syndrome.

Patients with Bertolotti's syndrome have characteristic lumbosacral anomalies and often have severe sciatica. We describe a patient with this syndrome in whom standard decompression of the affected nerve root failed, but endoscopic lumbosacral extraforaminal decompression relieved the symptoms. We suggest that the intractable sciatica in this syndrome could arise from impingement of the nerve r...

Surgery versus prolonged conservative treatment for sciatica.

BACKGROUND Lumbar-disk surgery often is performed in patients who have sciatica that does not resolve within 6 weeks, but the optimal timing of surgery is not known. METHODS We randomly assigned 283 patients who had had severe sciatica for 6 to 12 weeks to early surgery or to prolonged conservative treatment with surgery if needed. The primary outcomes were the score on the Roland Disability ...

Lumbago, Sciatica, Etc.