Magnetic resonance imaging of lumbosacral spine to determine the cause of sciatica

ABSTRACT

To analyze the lumbosacral spine using MRI to determine the most common pathology responsible for sciatica. Descriptive cross sectional study. This study was conducted at the Department of Radiology, Military Hospital Rawalpindi from October 2005 to April 2006. One hundred patients presenting with unilateral or bilateral sciatica were studied. MRI lumbo-sacral spine was the modality used to determine the anatomical factors responsible for sciatica. These factors included disc prolapse, osteophytes formation, and thickening of ligamentum flavum. It was seen that prolapsed disc was the most common cause of sciatica [found in 71% of the patients]. Out of these cases, disc bulge was found in 50% of the patients, protrusion / herniation in 37%, and an extruded disc fragment in 7%. Osteophytes and hypertrophied facet joints were seen in 7% of the cases, while ligamenta flava were thickened in 22%. 38% of the patients were in the 4[th] decade of life. Disc bulge is the most common pathology of lumbosacral spine in patients presenting with sciatica