[Functional anatomy of low back pain and ischialgia (author's transl)]

The neuronal systems involved in low back pain are first described in a functional anatomical review and then an attempt is made to work out the special functional structure data which seem to be decisive for the origin and localization of low back pain and ischialgia. Low back pain may arise as a deep pain through stimulation of the nociceptive afferents in the musculature and supporting tissues and as a neural pain through irritation of nociceptive nerve fibers within the innervation area of the lumbosacral plexus. The nociceptive influx from the viscera only elicits pain in the rarest cases, however, it often has a conductive influence. Skeletal muscle plays a special role here, along with the sensory supply to the vertebral motor segment through the spinal nerve and the particular innervation scheme of the lumbosacral plexus caused by the limb budding.