Femoral neuropathy following total hip arthroplasty: review and management guidelines

Femoral neuropathy following primary or revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a rare but acknowledged complication. Treatment of femoral neuropathy has long been debated and there is a paucity of accepted principles on which to base management. Currently, no definitive management protocol exists in the literature. A literature search was performed by a review of PubMed, Google Scholar and OVID articles published from 1972-2011. The literature reports an incidence rate of femoral neuropathy following THA ranging from 0.1 to 2.4 percent. Determining the precise aetiology, establishing a diagnosis and subsequent treatment of femoral nerve injury remains a difficult task, with conservative management remaining the treatment benchmark. In this review, we aim to summarise the aetiologies and risk factors associated with femoral neuropathy following THA and provide management guidelines.