Bone and soft tissue tumors presenting as sciatic notch dumbbell masses: A critical differential diagnosis of sciatica

AIM: To study the clinical findings and characteristic features in sciatic notch dumbbell tumors (SNDTs). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes and characteristic features of consecutive cases of SNDTs (n = 8). RESULTS: Buttock masses occurred in three patients with SNDT (37.5%). Severe buttock tenderness and pain at rest were observed in seven patients with SNDTs (87.5%). Remarkably, none of the patients with SNDTs experienced back pain. Mean tumor size was 8.4 ± 2.0 cm (range, 3.9 to 10.6 cm) and part of the tumor mass was detected in 2 patients in the sagittal view of lumbar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CONCLUSION: The clinical information regarding to SNDTs is scarce. The authors consider that above mentioned characteristic findings may facilitate the suspicion of pelvic pathology and a search for SNDT by MRI or computed tomography should be considered in patients presenting with sciatica without evidence of spinal diseases.