Surgery for Meralgia Paresthetica: neurolysis versus nerve resection

Neurolysis with transposition of the nerve and nerve resection are commonly performed surgical procedures for appropriate managing Meralgia Paresthetica (MP). But long-term outcome of these two procedures are uncertain. This case-series study came to address follow-up results of these two surgical procedures for managing MP.

We prospectively described 14 consecutive non-obese patients with clinical features of MP managed by one of the two studied procedures (nerve resection or neurolysis). Clinical variables were documented for each individual. The outcome of the surgery was assessed in follow-up visits within 18 months after the procedure.

Nine patients were treated with neural resection procedure and others underwent neurolysis technique. In the group that underwent nerve resection, all patients experienced complete relief of unpleasant symptoms and MP did not recur in any of them during follow-up, while all patients who underwent neurolysis reported MP recurrence within 1 to 9 months after treatment initiation.

Our results demonstrated that nerve resection is superior to neurolysis in terms of recurrence.