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Abstract
Background:
Meralgia paresthetica (MP) is a mononeuropathy affecting the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. The disease is often diagnosed clinically, but electrophysiological tests play an important role. The aim of this study is to clarify clinical characteristics of MP as well as the role of sensory nerve conduction study (NCS) in the diagnosis of MP.
Methods:
Sixty-five consecutive patients with clinical diagnosis of MP between March 2001 and June 2012 were retrospectively reviewed at a single tertiary center. General demographics, clinical characteristics and sensory NCS findings were investigated. Measurements of sensory NCS included the baseline-to-peak amplitude, side-to-side amplitude ratio and the conduction velocity. To compare between the normal and abnormal NCS groups, independent t-tests and chi-square test were performed.
Results:
Sixty-five patients had male predominance (56.9%) with mean age of 48.4±13.4 years (range: 16-75). Seven patients (13.5%) had undergone operation or procedure before the symptom onset. The sensory nerve action potentials were obtainable in 52 (80%) of 65 clinically diagnosed MP patients. Sensory NCS revealed abnormalities in 38 patients (73.1%), and others (n=14, 26.9%) showed normal findings. Between the normal and abnormal NCS groups, there is no statistically significant difference on demographics or clinical features.
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Table 1.
Demographic and clinical features of 65 clinically diagnosed patients with meralgia paresthetica
| Demographics | Age (years) | 48.4±13.4 (16.4-74.6) |
| Sex (male:female) | 37 (56.9%):28 (43.1%) | |
| Obesity* | 3/35 (8.6%) | |
| Diabetes | 5 (7.7%) | |
| Trauma | 5 (7.7%) | |
| Operation or procedure | 7 (10.8%) | |
| Clinical | Symptom duration(months) | 31.9±71.1 (0.2-300.0) |
| Characteristics | Bilaterality | 3 (4.6%) |
| Symptom side (R:L) | 35 (53.8%):27 (41.5%) | |
| Clinical symptoms | ||
| Positive sensory symptoms | 17 (26.2%) | |
| Negative sensory symptoms | 32 (49.2%) | |
| Both (positive and negative) | 16 (24.6%) | |
| Severe (need medications) | 20 (30.8%) |
Table 2.
Comparison between the normal and abnormal NCS groups
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