[Meralgia paresthetica. Pathogenesis, clinical aspects and therapy of compression of the lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh].

The lateral femoral cutaneus nerve is vulnerable to entrapment neuropathy where the nerve passes through the lateral end of the inguinal ligament. At the end of last century the clinical manifestation of this condition has been termed Meralgia paresthetica. It is a syndrome of pain, numbness, itching or other dysesthesias in the anterolateral aspect of the thigh, where perception of pinprick and touch often is diminished or lost. 36 patients were operated upon over a period of 17 years. After a short historical review, pathogenesis, clinical aspects and therapy of the syndrome are discussed. The correct surgical therapy is not the resection of the nerve, but its decompression, similar to the therapy of the entrapment of the median nerve at the wrist.