The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 76, Issue 7 993-999, Copyright © 1994 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Meralgia paresthetica in children
R Edelson and P Stevens
Pediatric Orthopedic Associates, Salt Lake City, Utah 84113.
We reviewed the findings in twenty children and adolescents who had
meralgia paresthetica, a common entity in adults that has only rarely been
reported in children. Ten patients had bilateral involvement; thus, the
study included thirty lesions. Twenty-four lesions were eventually treated
with open decompression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve; the results
of twenty-one of these operations were followed for at least two years. The
presenting symptom was severe pain resulting in marked restriction of
activities. The pain could be reproduced with palpation of the nerve, and a
trial injection of Xylocaine (lidocaine) always produced transient relief
of symptoms. The average age at the onset of the symptoms was ten years
(range, one to seventeen years); the diagnosis was missed initially in ten
patients, which resulted in multiple, unnecessary diagnostic tests being
done. The average duration of the symptoms before the patient was first
seen was twenty-four months (range, two to eighty-four months), and the
average duration of follow-up after the twenty-one operations was
thirty-eight months (range, twenty-five to sixty months). Fourteen of the
twenty-one operations led to an excellent result, with complete relief of
pain and no restriction of activities; five led to a good result, with
occasional pain but no limitation of sports or other activities; and two
led to a fair result, with pain that interfered with sports activities but
not with walking. We believe that meralgia paresthetica is much more common
in children than has been previously recognized.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250
WORDS)
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