[Bilateral sciatica: a predictive sign of extradural hematoma after lumbar disk herniation]

The authors analyse five cases, in order to recognize a sensitive early clinical feature of extradural haematoma following lumbar diskectomy. Neither time delay (time from surgery to the suspicion of the diagnosis) nor pain intensity (a subjective factor which might be obtunded by an analgesic drug) are valuable features. The only reliable predictive sign is bilateral sciatica, which occurred in all cases, before the diagnosis was confirmed by a sensitive and motor deficit in the lower limbs.