Neurological conditions and seizures
VA rating for radiculopathy of the leg, diagnostic code 8520
Radiculopathy running down the leg is usually rated as impairment of the sciatic nerve, diagnostic code 8520, at 10, 20, 40, 60 or 80 percent. Only the top level is described in clinical detail. The four below it are the single words mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe, under the heading Incomplete.
Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.
What each level requires
radiculopathy of the leg is rated under diagnostic code 8520, at 38 CFR 4.124a.
80 percent requires
In plain English
Complete paralysis of the sciatic nerve: the foot dangles and drops, no muscle below the knee can be moved actively, and knee flexion is weakened or, rarely, lost.
As written in 38 CFR 4.124a
Complete; the foot dangles and drops, no active movement possible of muscles below the knee, flexion of knee weakened or (very rarely) lost
60 percent requires
In plain English
Incomplete paralysis described as severe, with marked muscle wasting.
As written in 38 CFR 4.124a
Severe, with marked muscular atrophy
40 percent requires
In plain English
Incomplete paralysis described as moderately severe. The schedule supplies the word and no test to measure it against.
As written in 38 CFR 4.124a
Moderately severe
20 percent requires
In plain English
Incomplete paralysis described as moderate.
As written in 38 CFR 4.124a
Moderate
10 percent requires
In plain English
Incomplete paralysis described as mild.
As written in 38 CFR 4.124a
Mild
Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.124a, read on 2026-08-21. Read the section at the eCFR. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the date above is the date this text was checked and not the date it was written.
One described level and four undescribed ones
Derived from the regulation
The 80 percent criterion is the only one the schedule spells out: "Complete; the foot dangles and drops, no active movement possible of muscles below the knee, flexion of knee weakened or (very rarely) lost". It is a description of complete paralysis, and it is checkable against an examination.
Below it the schedule prints the heading "Incomplete:" and then four criteria in full: "Severe, with marked muscular atrophy" at 60 percent, "Moderately severe" at 40, "Moderate" at 20, and "Mild" at 10.
Only the 60 percent criterion adds anything, and what it adds is marked muscular atrophy. The other three are the bare adjective.
Part 4 does not define mild, moderate or moderately severe for this nerve. The consequence is structural rather than a matter of opinion: where the criteria supply no measurement, the words used in the medical record are the only thing available to read them against.
How a nerve rating relates to a spine rating
Derived from the regulation
Radiculopathy in the leg is frequently a consequence of a back condition, and the schedule keeps the two apart on purpose. Note (1) to the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine directs that associated objective neurologic abnormalities be evaluated separately, under an appropriate diagnostic code.
Which nerve is involved decides the code. The sciatic nerve is 8520 and it is the usual one for symptoms running into the leg. Radiculopathy affecting the arm is rated under a different set of codes in the same section, from 8510 for the upper radicular group through 8516 for the ulnar nerve, and those codes rate the dominant arm higher than the other one.
Code 8520 is one of those appropriate codes. That is why a spine rating and a sciatic nerve rating can exist alongside each other rather than one absorbing the other.
The limit on that is 38 CFR 4.14, which forbids rating the same disability under different diagnoses. Separate evaluation depends on the neurologic abnormality being a distinct impairment rather than the same impairment described twice.
The dates behind the peripheral nerve codes
Derived from the regulation
The peripheral nerve schedule has been amended many times. Code 8520 was not one of the codes that moved.
There is no row for 8520 in Appendix A to Part 4 at all. The table lists amendments code by code, so an empty entry means this code has never been amended in its own right. It is a record of age, not of newness.
Underneath the section the eCFR prints a second, longer record, the Federal Register citation line: 29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 40 FR 42540, Sept. 15, 1975; 41 FR 11302, Mar. 18, 1976; 43 FR 45362, Oct. 2, 1978; 54 FR 4282, Jan. 30, 1989; 54 FR 49755, Dec. 1, 1989; 55 FR 154, Jan. 3, 1990; 56 FR 51653, Oct. 15, 1991; 57 FR 24364, June 9, 1992; 70 FR 75399, Dec. 20, 2005; 73 FR 54705, Sept. 23, 2008; 73 FR 69554, Nov. 19, 2008; 76 FR 78824, Dec. 20, 2011; 79 FR 2100, Jan. 13, 2014. It covers the whole section rather than this code alone, and it was read on 2026-08-21.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for radiculopathy of the leg in one view, plain English on the left and the regulation itself on the right, in a layout built to print.
It is free and it never says which level anyone meets. It describes what each one requires and leaves the reading to the person whose record it is.
Sources
- 38 CFR 4.124a, Schedule of ratings, neurological conditions and convulsive disorders (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- 38 CFR 4.71a, Schedule of ratings, musculoskeletal system (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- 38 CFR 4.14, Avoidance of pyramiding (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- Appendix A to Part 4, Table of Amendments and Effective Dates Since 1946 (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the retrieval date above is what this page is accurate as of.