Meralgia paresthetica: the diagnostic value of somatosensory evoked potentials

Somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by stimulation of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve were investigated in 20 able-bodied persons and 22 patients diagnosed clinically to have meralgia paresthetica. There was no statistically significant difference between the right and left sides for P0 and N1 latencies in able-bodies subjects. For all patients, abnormalities were found on the side clinically affected. The mean values were 38.11 msec for P0 and 47.49msec for N1 on the affected side and 32.62msec and 41.44msec on the unaffected side (p less than .01). The mean latency differences between the two sides P0 and N1 were 5.49msec and 6.05msec, respectively (p less than .01). Hence, this technique proved to be a useful objective diagnostic aid in meralgia paresthetica.