[Somatosensory evoked potentials following stimulation of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve in normal persons and in patients with meralgia paraesthetica].

Cortical somatosensory potentials evoked by stimulation of the N. cutaneus femoris lateralis at two different places (proximal and distal) were investigated in normal persons and patients with sensory disorders of this nerve. A relatively constant early peak (P 32 and P 37 respectively) proved to be a useful diagnostic parameter for normal and delayed nerve conduction. Abnormalities were found in two thirds of cases on the side clinically affected. Peripheral sensory nerve potentials, evoked by orthodromic or antidromic nerve stimulation, have been found to be of limited value because frequently they could not be recorded in normals and also because lesions of the nerve may be localized proximally from the section that is accessible with peripheral electroneurography.