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Oscar Sugar, MD
University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago

JAMA. 1985;253(6):775-776.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Dr Cutler¹ has given a detailed summary of the various causes of night cramps and muscle spasms in the legs. For the specific query, however, he has omitted a possible cause that I believe to be common and not usually considered, namely, lumbar spondylosis with nerve root compression. One of the two most common loci is the area of the disk at L-5-S-1, which includes the facet joints laterally. These joints are often hypertrophied and their ligaments disturbed as a consequence of the "normal" aging process, which concurrently produces thinning of the intervertebral disk at this level.

Relaxation of the muscles of the lower part of the back during sleep may well permit excess motion in the joints, with annoyance of nearby nerve roots (especially S-1, which extends to the calf and some of the plantar muscles). Stimulation of nerves by slight pressure, insufficient to cause . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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