Cutaneous cautery in sciatica

We describe five cases of cutaneous cautery in patients with chronic sciatica. The cautery was used as a traditional therapy when modern conservative treatment had failed. in all cases, intervertebral disc prolapse was later confirmed and, in four cases, operated on with good results. Cutaneous cautery is an alternative medicine that does not cause lasting improvement of the symptoms of sciatica However in such cases, the presence of the scars resulting from cautery constitute useful signs indicating genuine symptoms, chronicity and, possibly, assist in localising the level of the disc lesion. Cautery is a possible index for patient selection and an indicator of subsequent success should operative treatment be elected