Posterior femoral cutaneous nerve entrapment neuropathy: operative exposure and technique

An isolated posterior femoral cutaneous nerve lesion is rare. There have been seven reported cases to date. We report a 51-year-old male with pain in the posterolateral thigh, atypical from the classic anatomical description. Somatosensory evoked potentials were suggestive of a posterior femoral cutaneous nerve lesion. We describe our operative exposure and technique for decompression of the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve and include a comparative anatomical explanation for the unusual area of our patient's pain.