Surgical management of sciatica involving anomalous lumbar nerve roots

Twenty patients with sciatica associated with anomalous lumbar nerve roots were reviewed with an average follow-up of 26.3 months. All patients had predominantly leg pain and their nerve root anomaly was known preoperatively. Overall success rate was 65% but was increased to 80% in patients with concurrent disk herniation. Improved results of surgical decompression were most consistently associated with concurrent disk herniation whereas other factors such as more extensive decompression were less strongly correlated. Surgery should only be offered with these results in mind.