ABSTRACT
Called in the past the “False L5-S1 pain syndrome,” the piriformis syndrome is a controversial and underdiagnosed disorder. The diagnosis does remain one of exclusion, that is, one must rule out the more common causes of sciatic pain prior to determining this non-discogenic sciatic pain pathoetiology. Even so, piriformis syndrome may encompass up to 5% of cases of low back, buttock, and leg pain. The physical examination shows local tenderness at the piriformis muscle. One way to find this muscle is to draw an imaginary line from the posterior superior iliac spine to the greater trochanter, and an intersecting line from the anterior superior iliac spine to the ischial tuberosity. The piriformis muscle originates from the anterior surface of the second, third, and fourth sacral vertebrae and the capsule of the sacroiliac joint.
