Extraspinal causes of sciatica - A case report

Study Design. A case of intrapelvic aneurysm is reported. It Ss as an example of one of the many extraspinal causes of sciatica. Objective. To demonstrate the importance of clinical examination in the assessment of patients with sciatica, despite continuing improvements in methods for imaging the spine. Summary of Background Data. Extraspinal conditions cause sciatica in a rare hut recognized group of patients; Their clinical symptoms can be very similar to those of patients with sciatica from lumbar disc protrusion. Methods. The clinical appearance, investigation, and treatment of a patient with an internal iliac artery aneurysm causing sciatica are discussed. Results; Surgical treatment of the patient's aneurysm resulted in relief of the symptoms or sciatica. Conclusions. Although these bases are unusual in isolation, together they represent an important group. When a patient has sciatica, the, clinician looks first to the spine for the origin of symptoms. Extraspinal causes are often not considered in the differential diagnosis. This oversight maybe compounded by observation of asymptomatic disc protrusions on computed tomographic and magnetic resonance studies. The importance of clinical history and examination in the diagnosis of these lesions cannot be overemphasized.