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Evidence summaries

Treatment for Meralgia Paraesthetica

Watch policy (no intervention) might possibly be as effective as local injection or surgical interventions in the treatment of meralgia paresthetica, although the evidence is insufficient. Level of evidence: "D"

A Cochrane review [Abstract]1 included 20 high quality observational studies with a total of 636 patients. No RCTs were found. Four studies evaluating the injection of corticosteroid and local anaesthetic found cure or improvement in 130/157 (83%) cases. Surgical treatments were found to be beneficial in 264/300 (88%) cases treated with decompression (9 studies); and in 45/48 (94%) cases treated with neurectomy (3 studies). Therefore, the reported improvement rates were comparable. In 3 studies with iatrogenic meralgia paraesthetica 99/102 (97%) patients recovered completely without intervention. Also, similar outcome was reported in a single natural history study, where spontaneous improvement of meralgia paraesthetica was described in 20/29 (69%) cases.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes).

    References

    • Khalil N, Nicotra A, Rakowicz W. Treatment for meralgia paraesthetica. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;12:CD004159. [PubMed].

Primary/Secondary Keywords