Abstract
We reported two patients of lumbar disc herniation at the L4/5 interspace. A case 1 was 48-year-old man and a case 2 was 47-year-old man. Their motor weakness appeared in bilateral hip abductors, so they showed waddling gait. Furthermore a case 1 was accompanied with bilateral drop-foot. In spite of their paraparesis, there was no bladder and rectal disturbance.
In two cases, myelogram and computed tomography (CT) -myelogram demonstrated almost complete block by central herniation and stenosis of the lateral recess at the L4/5 interspace. They were underwent a wide bilateral laminectomy of L4 and L4-5 posterolateral fusion . At that time we found large disc prolapse at the L4/5 interspace and narrowed lateral recess by remarkable hypertrophic changes of the facet joint. Postoperatively their steady improvements were observed. They were able to walk unaided after about one year in a case 1 and after about 4 months in a case 2. Although many cases of lumbar disc herniation with its radicular symptoms involving the lumbosacral roots have been reported, these paralytic gait disturbances have since been lacking in the literature. Whenever a patient with a lumbar disc herniation complains of difficulty in walking, hip abductors muscles should be examined carefully.
