[Pyrimidal syndrome and anatomical variations as a cause of insidious sciatic pain]

The case is presented of a 42 year old woman who had been suffering a loss of strength in her left leg for six years. After an extensive diagnostic study, the pain was classified as of functional origin by a diagnosis of exclusion. Since then, the patient has tried all kind of drug treatments and conservative techniques without improvement. After an exhaustive study with inconclusive results, the case was discussed with the Orthopaedics Department, who performed an exploratory surgery, in which compression of the sciatic nerve due to an anatomical variation of the piriformis muscle was observed. Part of the muscle was resected during surgery and the sciatic nerve was freed, after which the patient experienced a great improvement.