Obturator nerve injuries during intra-abdominal surgery.

Selective obturatory nerve lesions are described to occur relatively infrequent. In the present paper two patients developing signs and symptoms of an obturatory neuropathy as a result of abdominal surgery were reported. In a 48-year-old woman a bilateral obturator neuropathy occurred after bilateral ovarectomy with a weakness of the adductor muscles, typical electromyographic findings and sensory deficits in the medial aspect of the thigh. Similar unilateral signs and symptoms were seen in a 65-years-old man as a result of an aortofemoral bypass operation. Symptomatology and differential diagnosis of obturator nerve lesions are discussed.