Sciatic Nerve Endometriosis
Prof. Dr. Taner Usta – Obstetrics and Gynaecology Specialist
Endometriosis is a benign disease seen in approximately 10% of women of reproductive age. Although it is a benign disease, it has malignant (cancer-like) behaviour in terms of its progression and its involvement of other organs. Although there is frequently involvement of the ovaries, the peritoneum inside the abdomen, the large bowel and the ureter, it can affect all the organs inside the abdomen.
The sciatic nerve is the thickest and longest nerve in the human body. After it is formed from the nerve fibres coming from the lower part of the spinal cord, it leaves the abdominal cavity, passes to the back of the thigh and, dividing into two separate nerves behind the knee, goes down to the foot. While the sensation of the sole of the foot, the back of the calf, the knee and the back of the thigh is carried by the sciatic nerve, some foot and leg muscles are also stimulated by the sciatic nerve.
Endometriosis can rarely involve the part of this nerve inside the abdomen and can lead to sciatic nerve problems. When the sciatic nerve is involved, pain, a feeling of numbness, tingling and muscle weakness are observed at the back of the thigh, behind the knee, at the back of the calf and in the sole of the foot, particularly during the menstrual period.
These complaints can be caused when pressure is placed on the sciatic nerve by a slipped disc, or any pressure or compression along the course of the nerve can lead to these complaints. In sciatic nerve involvement of endometriosis, because inflammation also increases in the endometriotic tissue on the nerve during the menstrual period, the complaints increase during the menstrual period. Whether these complaints are due to endometriosis or to another cause comes to light after a detailed physical examination.
Sciatic nerve involvement in endometriosis can generally be missed. For this reason the patient needs to be examined by doctors who are experienced in this matter. The definitive treatment is the surgical removal of that endometriotic tissue. Today there are neuropelveologists (who carry out nerve surgery of the groin region) in the world who have specialised in this work.
In our country there are only two obstetrics and gynaecology specialists who hold this certificate. With the removal of the lesion by a neuropelveologist laparoscopically or with the assistance of a robot, all the complaints regress and the patient returns to her normal life. Because the lesion will be removed completely from the nerve, this surgery being carried out by a neuropelveologist who is very experienced in this matter reduces to a minimum the harm the patient may suffer from the operation.
What do our patients say?
I am very lucky to have come across the sweetest, the most “caring” doctor in the world, who does his job in the best possible way! Many thanks for everything.
Hello and WELCOME to March, endometriosis awareness month. One in 10 women has endometriosis, some are aware of it and some are not. Pain that is generally accepted as normal may sometimes not be normal. If you are experiencing severe pain you should definitely see a doctor. Do not listen to anyone. What seems normal to everyone may not be normal for you. I too am an endometriosis patient. I had an operation in July 2018, and how glad I am that I came across @drtanerusta. ✔️ I had a cyst inside my abdomen. I was experiencing pain every month, and life is very short, so why should you spend a few days of every month lying down? For now, thank goodness, I am better, but there is no definitive solution for endometriosis. Become aware of it. Do not neglect it.
I had chocolate cyst disease too. Thanks to you I was freed from it. Now I have a 6-year-old son.
My dear doctor, I too was freed from this disease thanks to you, God willing. Many thanks for everything, may God be pleased with you, hocam
You are a wonderful doctor, I am very happy to have met you. Doctor, how good it is that you exist, I wish you to be always at the summit.
Thanks to @drtanerusta and his masterly hands I was freed from the terrible pain I had lived with for very many years, which no doctor could find the cause of. Thank you again and again, doctor, my joy in life has returned. It has been 6 months since the operation. To live without taking painkillers, without pain – what could be better than this? How glad I am that I met you, how glad I am that you came into my path. You are always in my prayers, stay with love.
I had an operation 2 months ago; I cannot describe what pain I suffered for years, what I went through up to the day of the operation! I came running from İzmir; I cannot describe how good, how excellent my doctor @drtanerusta is… I had laparoscopic surgery, the cyst was 9 cm, my abdomen had become so swollen that I had been harmed both mentally and physically. When I went to hospital because of the pain nobody understood me. I was surrounded by people saying cyst pain cannot be this bad. I left my most terrible times in the hands of my doctor @drtanerusta and now I am well, no cyst in my hand, no pain, I still cannot believe it, but they are gone.
As of the diagnosis, counting the 10 years before the diagnosis, I had had endometriosis for 15 years. My dear doctor, the one who relieved my pain and my suffering, the reason for my gratitude, one of the few doctors not only in Turkey but in the world when it comes to endometriosis, with masterly hands just like his name.
I had an operation on 20 April 2015. My operation was carried out by A. Taner Usta and his team. Extremely successful in his field, Taner hoca is truly an excellent doctor and an exceptional person. His team, in the same way, are successful and high-quality people who value others. I offer my endless thanks to all of them for their efforts. I wish everyone a speedy recovery and the chance to be treated by this team.
I had an operation on 16 June 2014. May God be pleased with him, he is a good judge of things. Bless your hands, I wish you success, Taner hocam.
Even though it was at a state hospital and it was very busy, I loved DR. TANER USTA, an excellent, attentive, solution-focused doctor who makes the patient feel special.
I thank your whole team, above all Dr. Taner Usta, who did not withhold their care and attention after the operation I had.
I thank Dr. Taner. I am very pleased to be his patient because of the care and attention he has shown.
It would not be enough just to call Altunizade Acıbadem a good hospital; it is as elegant as an A plus hotel and comfortable at the same time. The staff were young, bright and helpful, and my check-up doctor created a feeling of trust in me. The information he gave was sufficient for me, and I would like to state in particular that I was very impressed by the knowledge, the approach to the patient with professional warmth and the experience of Obstetrics and Gynaecology doctor Prof. Dr. Taner Usta, and that I have already recommended him to all those close to me.
In my research about my illness we came across the name of Prof. Dr. Taner Usta. When I called him on his personal telephone he took care of me straight away and I reached him urgently. When he welcomed me in his room at the hospital and examined me, I understood for the first time in my 7 years of illness that a doctor understood me and would relieve my pain. He was so experienced that he explained to me one by one the causes of my complaints, which no professor I had been to until then had understood, and he carried out my operation very successfully. I thank him endlessly both for his medical knowledge and for his approach to patients and his cheerful face.
First of all I was extremely pleased that your new hospital has opened in this area. Prof. Dr. Taner Usta is a very, very attentive and knowledgeable doctor. I was also very pleased to meet him. I believe I made a very right choice. I will definitely recommend him to my friends around me.
If you suspect it, don’t put it off
Chocolate cysts can progress silently. Let us clarify your situation with an examination and imaging.