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What Causes Persistent And Severe Pain In Left Leg Of An Elderly Man?
Posted on
Sun, 28 Aug 2016
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 28 Aug 2016
Answered on
Mon, 19 Sep 2016
Last reviewed on
Question : My husband has severe pain in his left leg that is not relieved by anti-inflammatory medications. For the past 2 days he has been living in his recliner. There is NO swelling or redness. He did not have an injury within the past several years. An X-ray did not show any fracture, some slight inflammation. He is 82 years old.
Brief Answer:
Radiculopathy should be ruled out...
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
At the outset, its difficult to understand the cause of leg pain without clinical examination. I presume doppler scan of lower limb arteries and veins were done before ruling out circulatory problems. And no swelling / redness are against venous clots / local infections. Based on these details, I choose radiculopathy - blocked nerve roots at the spine as the most likely cause of severe leg pain.
Most often radiculopathy is described as a bilateral or unilateral shooting leg pain associated with limb weakness and numbness / sensory disturbance. Associated bowel and bladder disturbance is also reported. If your husband also has these typical features, then radiculopathy is most likely.
That being said, I have limited resource to diagnose him here. I will recommend he visits an orthopedic surgeon or a spine surgeon for clinical examination. MRI scan of spine is entailed.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more information/guidance.
Regards
Radiculopathy should be ruled out...
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
At the outset, its difficult to understand the cause of leg pain without clinical examination. I presume doppler scan of lower limb arteries and veins were done before ruling out circulatory problems. And no swelling / redness are against venous clots / local infections. Based on these details, I choose radiculopathy - blocked nerve roots at the spine as the most likely cause of severe leg pain.
Most often radiculopathy is described as a bilateral or unilateral shooting leg pain associated with limb weakness and numbness / sensory disturbance. Associated bowel and bladder disturbance is also reported. If your husband also has these typical features, then radiculopathy is most likely.
That being said, I have limited resource to diagnose him here. I will recommend he visits an orthopedic surgeon or a spine surgeon for clinical examination. MRI scan of spine is entailed.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more information/guidance.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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