A 44-Year-Old Female with Buttock Pain

Sciatic neuropathy presents with buttock pain worsened by sitting on the affected side and associated with ankle and knee extension weakness. Electrodiagnostic evaluation will help to distinguish it from peroneal or tibial mononeuropathies, lumbosacral plexopathy, or lumbosacral radiculopathy. It can be difficult to distinguish from a peroneal mononeuropathy due to the preferential involvement of the peroneal division of the sciatic nerve. EMG study of the short head of the biceps femoris allows for distinction between these entities. Long-term outcome and prognosis studies are sparse although Preservation of distal lower-extremity strength may be a significant predictor earlier and/or better clinical recovery.