Low back pain is the leading cause of long term disability worldwide. The lifetime incidence of low back pain is 58-84%, and 11% of men and 16% of women have chronic low back pain. Back pain accounts for 7% of GP consultations and results in the loss of 4.1 million working days a year. More than 30% of people still have clinically significant symptoms after a year after onset of sciatica. This ...

Caudal epidural injection is a common intervention in patients with low back pain and sciatica. Even though the complications of fluoroscopically directed epidural injections are less frequent than in blind epidural injections, complications due to contrast media can occur. We report a case of anaphylactic shock immediately after injection of an intravenous nonionic contrast medium (iohexol) du...

Midline prolapse of a disc causing compression of the cauda equina is rare but needs urgent diagnosis and surgical treatment. The onset of bladder and rectal paralysis with saddle anaesthesia should be viewed with a high index of suspicion in a patient with backache and sciatica. Eight cases were seen over a period of five years, and they fell into three clinical groups. Group I patients presen...

STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between history and physical examination findings and the outcome of electrodiagnostic testing in patients with sciatica referred to physical therapy. BACKGROUND Electrodiagnostic testing is routinely used to evaluate patients with sciatica. Recent evidence suggests that the presence of radicul...