Lumbosciatic pain due to sacral pathology

Lesions of the sacrum are a possible, albeit infrequent, cause of low back pain and sciatica. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to this possibility which, perhaps due to the rarity of sacral pathologies, is often overlooked in the investigation of lumbosciatic pain. This may influence the prognosis because of the consequent delay in diagnosis. Several cases are reported which were initially operated on for radicular disc syndromes with negative results, and only later correctly diagnosed as sacral lesions.