Cauda Canis: Variation of a Tinel’s Sign for a Sciatic Nerve Tumor

Abstract

A patient with a prior history of intradural schwannoma and disc herniation presented with radicular pain after being hit in the thigh by a dog’s tail. She was worked up and found to have a tumor of her right sciatic nerve. The tumor was resected and histology was consistent with schwannoma. The dog’s tail acted as a Tinel’s sign maneuver and led to timely identification of her peripheral nerve tumor. Peripheral nerve schwannomas can present in unusual forms, and Tinel’s maneuver may be a useful tool in diagnosis.