Femoral nerve palsy: compression by lymph glands in the inguinal region.

Femoral neuropathy caused by compression of the femoral nerve is not a common syndrome when compared with other compression neuropathies. In most cases reported, the compression was intraabdominal, either in the retroperitoneal region or in the course of the nerve through the psoas major muscle. In this case, the lesion was located extraabdominally. Enlarged and inflamed nodes in the inguinal region caused compression of the nerve resulting in femoral neuropathy. Electromyography (emg) and nerve conduction studies revealed that the lesion was neurapraxia. As expected, the condition was reversible; the patient responded to treatment of the inflamed glands and to physical therapy. The use of emg was helpful for confirming the diagnosis and making the prognosis.