Anesth Pain Med.  2011 Jan;6(1):21-23.

Clinical experience in the treatment of piriformis syndrome using pulsed radiofrequency: A case report

• Moon HS
• Cha YD
• Song JH
• Lee MH
• Ahn SM
• Song BH
• Yang KH
• Hwang SI

Abstract

Piriformis syndrome consists of pain, tingling sensation, and paresthesia in areas innervated by sciatic nerve and is one of the main causes of low back pain. A 43-year-old male made a visit for continuous left buttock pain and tingling sensation in lower limbs for three years. Medication, epidural block and sacroiliac joint block were performed, but without effect. Sciatic nerve block with local anesthetics and steroid, however, showed some improvement for a short period of time. The patient's symptoms, physical examination, and the fact that sciatic nerve block showed improvement for a while led to the suspicion of piriformis syndrome. Thus, pulsed radiofrequency was performed on sciatic nerve twice. Visual analog scale (VAS) was 8-9 on first visit, which decreased to 1 after treatment and lasted for more than 18 months.

Keyword

Catheter ablation; Piriformis muscle syndrome; Sciatic nerve

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anesthetics, Local
Buttocks
Catheter Ablation
Humans
Low Back Pain
Lower Extremity
Male
Paresthesia
Physical Examination
Piriformis Muscle Syndrome
Sacroiliac Joint
Sciatic Nerve
Sensation
Anesthetics, Local