What the Board granted and denied for radiculopathy, sciatica, and neuropathy

In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 83,835 issues about radiculopathy, sciatica, and neuropathy. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 42 percent. It sent 43 percent of all these issues back for more work.

Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.

Since 2019

1,182 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 4,641 were dismissed or withdrawn. 444 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.

Across every year we have indexed, that is 164,615 issues across 85,923 decisions, 39 percent granted of the ones decided, and 43 percent sent back for more work.

What a remand is

A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.

What showed up in the decisions

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.

Claimed together

A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 100 times and the Board decided at least 20 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page.

Claimed as secondary to radiculopathy, sciatica, and neuropathy

• Knee conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 98 issues paired, 18 percent granted of the ones decided

• Hip conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 64 issues paired, 19 percent granted of the ones decided

• Foot conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 64 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided

• Depression or anxiety secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 44 issues paired, 87 percent granted of the ones decided

• Shoulder conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 64 issues paired, 26 percent granted of the ones decided

• Lower back conditions secondary to radiculopathy or neuropathy

  Since 2019: 43 issues paired, 24 percent granted of the ones decided

Radiculopathy, sciatica, and neuropathy claimed as secondary to something else

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to diabetes

  Since 2019: 3,360 issues paired, 51 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to lower back conditions

  Since 2019: 2,480 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to neck conditions

  Since 2019: 646 issues paired, 62 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to arthritis

  Since 2019: 298 issues paired, 79 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to knee conditions

  Since 2019: 191 issues paired, 20 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to foot conditions

  Since 2019: 130 issues paired, 27 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to cancer

  Since 2019: 158 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to shoulder conditions

  Since 2019: 91 issues paired, 29 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to ankle conditions

  Since 2019: 59 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to heart disease

  Since 2019: 106 issues paired, 14 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to PTSD

  Since 2019: 71 issues paired, 76 percent granted of the ones decided

• Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to wrist and hand conditions

  Since 2019: 48 issues paired, 13 percent granted of the ones decided

Recent decisions about radiculopathy, sciatica, and neuropathy

• June 30, 2026Granted

  Service connection for right lower extremity (RLE) radiculopathy

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 30, 2026Denied

  Service connection for left lower extremity (LLE) radiculopathy

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 30, 2026Denied

  Service connection for polyneuropathy, to include Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, to include as due to radiation exposure

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 29, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to a rating of 20 percent, but no higher, for right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy

  Read the decision at VA.gov
• June 29, 2026Granted

  Entitlement to a 40 percent disability rating, but no higher, for right upper extremity diabetic neuropathy from December 16, 2009, to December 18, 2015

  Read the decision at VA.gov

What this means for you

The schedule rates nerve damage by which nerve is affected and by the degree of paralysis, from mild through moderate and severe to complete. Whether the loss is sensory only, or includes weakness or muscle wasting, is what moves the rating.

For a first claim, the link is the case. Nerve pain in the legs or arms is claimed most as secondary to a spine condition, and that claim needs a doctor to say the spine condition led to the nerve damage and to explain why. Diabetes is another first condition named in those decisions.

For a higher rating, bring the exam findings for each nerve: sensation, strength, reflexes, and any wasting. The spine rules say to rate nerve problems separately from the spine rating, so ask that each nerve be examined and named.