sciatica
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Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Sciatica
- Medical condition (new).image
- Sciatic nerve2.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Anterior view showing the sciatic nerve going down the right leg
- Medical condition (new).field
- Orthopedics, neurology
- Medical condition (new).synonyms
- Sciatic neuritis, sciatic neuralgia, lumbar radiculopathy, radicular leg pain
- Medical condition (new).symptoms
- Pain going down the leg from the lower back, weakness or numbness of the affected leg
- Medical condition (new).complications
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Medical condition (new).onset
- 40s–50s
- Medical condition (new).duration
- 90% of the time less than 6 weeks
- Medical condition (new).causes
- Spinal disc herniation, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome, pelvic tumor
- Medical condition (new).diagnosis
- Straight-leg-raising test
- Medical condition (new).differential
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
27 sectionsContents
- Definition
- Causes
- Risk factors
- Spinal disc herniation
- Spinal stenosis
- Piriformis syndrome
- Deep gluteal syndrome
- Endometriosis
- Pregnancy
- Other
- Pathophysiology
- Intraspinal sciatica
- Extraspinal sciatica
- Diagnosis
- Physical tests
- Medical imaging
- Differential diagnosis
- Management
- Physical activity
- Medication
- Surgery
- Alternative medicine
- Prognosis
- Epidemiology
- See also
- References
- External links
Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may extend down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities such as heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often described as shooting. Typically, symptoms occur on only one side of the body; certain causes, however, may result in pain on both sides. Lower back pain is sometimes present. Weakness or numbness may occur in various parts of the affected leg and foot.
About 90% of sciatica is due to a spinal disc herniation pressing on one of the lumbar or sacral nerve roots. Spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome, pelvic tumors, and pregnancy are other possible causes of sciatica. The straight-leg-raising test is often helpful in diagnosis. The test is positive if, when the leg is raised while a person is lying on their back, pain shoots below the knee. In most cases medical imaging is not needed. However, imaging may be obtained if bowel or bladder function is affected, there is significant loss of feeling or weakness, symptoms are long standing, or there is a concern for tumor or infection. Conditions that can present similarly are diseases of the hip and infections such as early shingles (prior to rash formation).