© 2001 the British Journal of Sports Medicine
Editorial
The "piriformis syndrome"—myth or reality?
Editor
The "piriformis syndrome" has been described as a form of sciatic nerve entrapment causing buttock and hamstring pain. In sports medicine practice, where chronic hamstring pain is a common diagnostic problem, this syndrome is often put forward as a possible cause of these symptoms.The original description of this condition dates from 1928 when Yeoman stated that "insufficient attention" has been paid to the piriformis muscle as a potential cause of sciatica.1 Subsequently, clinical and anatomical studies were reported, developing the nature of this condition further. In 1934, Freiberg and Vinkle reported surgical division of the piriformis muscle as a cure for sciatica.2 Interestingly, although the original descriptions of this putative syndrome related to the distal sciatic symptoms, in recent times the term has been utilised non-specifically to include buttock and hamstring pain alone, without focal neurological signs.3
There was a brief vogue invoking anatomical variants of the course of
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Read, M T F
(2002). The ""piriformis syndrome""-- myth or reality?. Br. J. Sports. Med.
36: 76-76
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