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. 2020 Sep 11;21(11):2661–2675. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnaa239

Table 5.

Diagnostic criteria for acute lumbosacral radicular pain

  1. Pain is reported in unilateral or bilateral lower extremities

  2. Pain is intermittent/recurring or constant for less than half the days in 6 months

  3. Clinical signs and symptoms that indicate that the pain pathology is related to the:

 

  1. Lumbosacral facet joints

  2. Sacroiliac joints

  3. Lumbar intervertebral discs

  4. Lumbosacral spinal nerve(s)

 

  • 4. No neurologic deficits (sensory, motor, reflexes) are intact and unchanged from baseline

  • 5. EMG/NCS will have no abnormal findings

  • 6. Radiographic evidence of pathology of the structures listed above may or may not be present*

  • 7. Pain may also be reported in the lumbosacral spine area, defined as the space between the lower posterior margin of the rib cage and the horizontal gluteal fold*

EMG = electromyography; NCS = nerve conduction study.

*

While not required to meet Core Diagnostic Criteria, this may be used to support classification.