Foot drop after percutaneous treatment with radiopaque gelified ethanol (Discogel®)

Sciatica due to a lumbar disc herniation is a frequent symptom, between 13% and 40% of the general population will experience an episode of sciatica during their lives. Different techniques exist to treat this condition. Among them the percutaneous intradiscal Discogel®. In all the series of patients reviewed treated with Discogel®, so far, there is not any case reported with disc extrusion and significant neurological damage. We present a case of a foot drop, caused by a disc herniation after percutaneous treatment with Discogel®. We hypothesize that the pathogenic mechanism would be the increased intradiscal volume and pressure post-puncture and annulus fibrosus damage, which could produce the disc extrusion. The extrusion of Discogel® material is possible. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of this complication with this product.