Sonoelastographic evaluation of the sciatic nerve in patients with unilateral lumbar disc herniation

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare strain elastography (SE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) findings of the sciatic nerve in patients with unilateral lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and healthy control subjects.Materials and methodsThe study group included patients with complaints of unilateral sciatica for 3-12months, with foraminal stenosis due to one level of LDH (L4-L5 or L5-S1). An age- and gender-matched control group was formed of healthy subjects. Evaluations were performed on both the axial and longitudinal planes from the bilateral gluteal region using a 5-9MHz multifrequency convex probe.ResultsThere were 40 patients (20 male, 20 female) with a mean age of 43.112.7years in the study group, and 40 healthy subjects (22 male, 18 female) with a mean age of 42.9 +/- 10.7years in the control group (p>0.05). The sciatic nerve stiffness assessed on both the axial (12.3 +/- 3.7 kPA) and longitudinal (14.3 +/- 3.8 kPA) planes of the involved side was significantly higher than non-involved side (axial: 6.8 +/- 2.1 and longitudinal: 8.3 +/- 2.3 kPA) in the patient group (p<0.001).Conclusions p id=Par4 Patients with unilateral LDH have increased stiffness of the sciatic nerve compared to healthy control subjects. Although the findings in this preliminary study show that shear wave elastography can detect a change in sciatic nerve stiffness in patients with unilateral LDH, larger studies are required to determine the clinical utility of this technique.