Sciatica in the young.

Dear Editor,

We would like to discuss on the publication entitled "sciatica in the young [1]." Omidi-Kashani et al. [1] reported a case of "sciatica in a five-year-old boy" and noted that "lumbar osteoid osteoma should be suspected as the cause of low back pain or sciatalgia in any young patient." Sciatica in the young, especially in children, is rare. Lumbar osteoid osteoma is an important condition which can be systematic. Investigation on other parts of the child to find any abnormal osteoma is required [2]. Nevertheless, there are also other uncommon conditions that should be considered. Sciatica in children is generally due to lumbar disc herniation as a result of accidental injury [3]. Sometimes, the uncommon conditions could be the cause of sciatica in the children. Good examples include Garre's chronic sclerosing osteomyelitis [4] and pyomyositis [5]. Sciatica as a complication of missed injection procedure has also been reported [6]. To differentiate these conditions, complete history, clinical examination, imaging investigation, and laboratory tests should be performed.