Conservative rehabilitation of sciatic nerve injury following hamstring tear.

STUDY

designResident's case report

backgroundThere have been only a few case reports in the literature mentioning sciatic nerve injury following a hamstring tear. In previous cases surgical intervention was performed to debride scar tissue around the sciatic nerve with the goal of full return to function for the patient.

objectivesThe purpose of this case report is to describe the conservative interventions that allowed for recovery from a hamstring tear with sciatic nerve involvement. CASE DESCRIPTION: The subject was a 53 year old female who developed foot drop and weakness in the common fibular nerve distribution following a grade 3 hamstring injury sustained during Nordic skiing. Nerve function and strength gradually returned over the course of several months of conservative rehabilitation which included on neural gliding and strengthening exercises. OUTCOMES: At 18 months post injury, the subject had returned to 95% of full sport function and 98% of full function with activities of daily living, as rated by the Hip Outcome Scale, and had full strength with manual muscle testing. Isokinetic testing revealed strength deficits of 11-23% in knee flexion peak torque at 60 degrees/second and 180 degrees/second respectively. DISCUSSION: Sciatic nerve injury is a rare, but important potential consequence of severe hamstring strains. Clinicians should be cognizant of the potential injury to the nerve tissue following hamstring strains, so they may be dealt with in a prompt and appropriate manner. The use of neural gliding may be worth considering for a prophylactic effect following hamstring strains.