Anatomic Variation in Patient with Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Neuropathy

• Published in: World neurosurgery Vol. 115; pp. 274 - 276
• Main Authors: Kokubo, Rinko, Kim, Kyongsong, Morimoto, Daijiro, Isu, Toyohiko, Iwamoto, Naotaka, Kitamura, Takao, Morita, Akio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.07.2018
• Subjects: Anatomic variation; Entrapment neuropathy; Femoral nerve; Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve; Meralgia paresthetica; Surgery; LFCN-EN; Femoral nerve; Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve; ASIS; IL; Surgery; LFCN; FN; Entrapment neuropathy; Meralgia paresthetica; Anatomic variation; NRS
• ISSN: 1878-8750; 1878-8769
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.04.159

We report a surgical case of entrapment neuropathy of lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN) with anatomical variation. This 53-year-old man had a 10-year history of paresthesia and pain in the right anterolateral thigh exacerbated by prolonged standing and walking. His symptoms improved completely but transiently by LFCN block. The diagnosis was LFCN entrapment. Because additional treatment with drugs and repeat LFCN block was ineffective, we performed surgical decompression under local anesthesia. A nerve stimulator located the LFCN 4.5 cm medial to the anterior superior iliac spine. It formed a sharp curve and was embedded in connective tissue. Proximal dissection showed it to run parallel to the femoral nerve at the level of the inguinal ligament. The inguinal ligament was partially released to complete dissection/release. Postoperatively, his symptoms improved and the numeric rating scale fell from 8 to 1. We report a rare anatomical variation in the course of the LFCN. •We surgically treated a patient with a rare anatomical variation of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN).•Intraoperative nerve stimulation was useful.•At surgery, the presence of anatomic variations in the LFCN must be ruled out.