Minimal Invazive Surgical Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome and the Results

Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular pain syndrome occurring as a result of compression on the underlyingsciatic nerve due to various causes including the hypertrophy, inflammation, mass lesions or anatomical variationsoccuring in the deep gluteal space. Patients with piriformis syndrome often experience pain and numbness in thehip, thigh and leg, similar to those of sciatica. In addition to clinical findings, electrophysiological examinationsand magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for diagnosis. Once diagnosed, the treatment approach is stepwiseand conservative treatment is successful in majority of cases. Surgical treatment should be performed for thecases in whom conservative treatment methods fail and when the sciatic nerve should be decompressed. Surgeryis an important treatment option for unresolved piriformis syndrome with its simplicity and low morbidity. Severalsurgical procedures have been described for the decompression of affected sciatic nerve. Due to excessive fibrosistissue that may be developed around the sciatic nerve in classical surgical procedures, person's return to social andwork life may be delayed. In the present study, we will evaluate the surgical indication criteria of our cases whounderwent minimally invasive surgical treatment due to piriformis syndrome, the definition of the surgical procedureand the outcomes.