1. A sciatic neuritis is usually the late stage of a sciatic neuralgia.
2. The pain in a neuralgia and the nerve changes in a neuritis are usually confined to the distribution of the fifth lumbar nerve segment.
3. The pain and nerve changes are most commonly the result of irritation of the fifth lumbar nerve root, caused by a subluxation of the articular facets of the fifth lumbar and first sacral vertebrae and, therefore, a constriction of the neural foramina formed by these bodies.
4. Fixation of the lumbosacral joint by fusion will give relief of symptoms in the vast majority of cases.
5. A lumbosacral facetectomy, after fusion had been accomplished, gave complete relief of symptoms in the one case in this series which failed to get relief from a lumbosacral fusion.