Radicular pain, or radiculitis, is

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

"radiated" along the dermatome (sensory distribution) of a

nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

due to inflammation or other irritation of the nerve root ( radiculopathy) at its connection to the

spinal column The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral column is the defining characteristic of a vertebrate in which the notochord (a flexible rod of uniform composition) found in all chordates ...

. A common form of radiculitis is sciatica – radicular pain that radiates along the

sciatic nerve The sciatic nerve, also called the ischiadic nerve, is a large nerve in humans and other vertebrate animals which is the largest branch of the sacral plexus and runs alongside the hip joint and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest si ...

from the lower spine to the lower back, gluteal muscles, back of the upper thigh, calf, and foot as often secondary to nerve root irritation from a spinal disc herniation or from osteophytes in the

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means ''of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum.'' The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lower spine, or as an area of the back i ...

region of the spine. Friday, 20 January 2017 Radiculitis indicates inflammation of the spinal nerve root, which may lead to pain in that nerve's distribution without weakness as opposed to radiculopathy. When the radiating pain is associated with numbness or weakness, the diagnosis is radiculopathy if the lesion is at the nerve root and myelopathy if at the spinal cord itself.

References

External links

{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2021 Musculoskeletal disorders

See also

References

External links