Lumbar Radiculopathy

Abstract

It is a disorder of the spinal nerve roots presenting as pain in lumbar pattern. Radicular pain in association with numbness or motor loss constitutes radiculopathy. Any lesion affecting the lumbosacral nerve roots may cause radiculopathy or radicular pain. The most common cause of radicular pain is lumbar disc herniation. Stimulation of nerve fibres in the annulus or posterior longitudinal ligament accounts for the pain. Spinal nerves are more susceptible to compression than peripheral nerve roots and thus easily develop interneuronal fibrosis and radiculopathy.