"Hüftlendenstrecksteife"--a report of 100 cases.

Hüftlendenstrecksteife (HLS) is not a clinical entity, but a symptom-complex which can be produced by many diseases both inside and outside the spinal canal. Its clinical characteristics are: a) the wooden board sign, b) fixed lumbar lordosis, c) the special shifting gait. The etiology of HLS reported here was mostly (96%) HNP. Irritation of the lower lumbar nerves ensures spasms and/or contracture of the lumbar and hamstring muscles. Lumbogluteal soft tissue strain (30% of all cases) may also produce the pathologic conditions of the lumbosacral muscles. One hundred cases of HLS were treated in our hospital and the method of treatment and its results are discussed.