Pediatric sciatic neuropathy presenting as painful leg: A case report and review of literature

• Published in: Journal of pediatric neurosciences Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 161 - 164
• Main Authors: Prasad, Manish, Babiker, Mohamed, Rao, Ganesh, Rittey, Christopher
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications 01-05-2013; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
• Subjects: Case Report; Case studies; Children; Diagnosis; Diseases; Peripheral nerve diseases; mononeuropathies; sciatic neuropathy; painful leg; Eosinophilia; hyper-eosinophilic syndrome
• ISSN: 1817-1745; 1998-3948
• DOI: 10.4103/1817-1745.117858

Introduction: Mononeuropathies, in general, are very uncommon in childhood. Sciatic neuropathy (SN) is probably underappreciated in childhood and likely to represent nearly one quarter of childhood mononeuropathies. Materials and Methods: We present a 7-year-old girl who presented with painful right lower limb and abnormal gait. Detailed investigation revealed transient eosinophilia, abnormal neurophysiology, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggestive of isolated sciatic neuropathy. Results: She has responded very well to physiotherapy and has made a complete motor recovery, although she is left with an area of abnormal sensation affecting the lateral border of her right leg and the dorsum of her foot. Discussion: Differential diagnoses for pediatric SN have been discussed including compressive neuropathies in children and various hyper-eosinophilia syndromes. Compressive neuropathies in childhood are very rare and compression of the sciatic nerve is the second most common group after peroneal nerve lesion.