Diagnosis
Sciatica is diagnosed by physical examination, neurological testing and patient history. Generally if a patient reports the typical radiating pain in one leg as well as one or more neurological indications of nerve root tension or neurological deficit, sciatica can be diagnosed.
The most applied diagnostic test is the straight leg rising test, or Lasègue's sign, which is considered positive if pain in the sciatic nerve is reproduced with between 30 and 70 degrees passive flexion of the straight leg.
Diagnosis of sciatica through imaging can be achieved either with computerised tomography or with magnetic resonance imaging. MR neurography has been shown to diagnose 95% of severe sciatica patients, while as few as 15% of sciatica sufferers in the general population are diagnosed with disc-related problems. MR neurography may help diagnose piriformis syndrome—another cause of sciatica that does not involve disc herniation.
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