Pediatric sciatic neuropathy presenting as painful leg: A case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION: Mononeuropathies, in general, are very uncommon in childhood. Sciatic neuropathy (SN) is probably underappreciated in childhood and likely to represent nearly one quarter of childhood mononeuropathies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present a 7-year-old girl who presented with painful right lower limb and abnormal gait. Detailed investigation revealed transient eosinophilia, abnormal neurophysiology, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggestive of isolated sciatic neuropathy. RESULTS: She has responded very well to physiotherapy and has made a complete motor recovery, although she is left with an area of abnormal sensation affecting the lateral border of her right leg and the dorsum of her foot. DISCUSSION: Differential diagnoses for pediatric SN have been discussed including compressive neuropathies in children and various hyper-eosinophilia syndromes. Compressive neuropathies in childhood are very rare and compression of the sciatic nerve is the second most common group after peroneal nerve lesion.