Article
Treatment of meralgia paresthetica – individual burden of disease, health related quality of life, and impact on work status in a single centre surgical cohort
Therapie der Meralgia paresthetica – individuelle Krankheitslast, gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität und Effekt auf die Arbeitsfähigkeit in einer monozentrischen chirurgischen Kohorte
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Authors
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Shlomo Baruchi
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland
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Benn Schönberg
- Praxis Vertebral, Berlin, Deutschland
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Jennifer Reinsch
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland
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Anna Zdunczyk
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland
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Peter Vajkoczy
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland
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Wibke Klene
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland; MDK Sachsen, Dresden, Deutschland
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Nora F. Dengler
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Berlin, Deutschland
| Published: | May 25, 2022 |
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Outline
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Objective: Compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN) results in pain and paresthesia of the lateral thigh and is referred to as Meralgia paresthetica (MP). Associations with increasing age, obesity and diabetes were previously described, resulting in increasing incidences. Additional diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and choice of treatment may influence the individual burden of disease, health related quality of life, and individual work status. We aimed to characterize these aspects in patients of a single center surgical cohort.
Methods: Ethical approval was obtained by local authorities (01/034/21). A validated questionnaire was sent to 27 patients with MP who underwent surgical treatment between 2009 and 2019 and followed up by a structured telephone interview. The following variables were assessed: age, comorbidities, BMI, duration of symptoms before surgery (in years), type of surgery, success of surgery, pain on visual analogue scale (VAS), time to follow-up (in years), health-related quality of life at follow-up evaluated by the EQ-5D-5L, and return to work. Data is presented as median with interquartile range (IQR).
Results: 40% of patients responded to the questionnaire with a female:male ratio of 1:2 and a median age of 51 [47;57] years. Symptoms were present 5 years [3-9] before surgery. 82 % of patients underwent single-sided neurolysis. Comorbidities were present in 73% of patients (diabetes mellitus in 36%, obesity in 45%, depression in 45%, back pain in 54%). Median BMI was 34 [28-38]. Follow-up was conducted at a median of 4 years [1-7] after surgery. 82% of patients reported a benefit from surgery. Pre-surgical VAS improved from 8 [6-9] to 3 [1-7] at follow-up. At follow-up, 45% of patients were retired, 27% due to MP. Only 18% of patients returned to work. Health related quality of life on a scale from 0 to 100 was rated with a median of 60 [30-80] and with median dimensional values of 2/1/2/3/3 for mobility/self-care/activity/pain/ and anxiety, respectively.
Conclusion: Although a substantial number of patients described a clinical benefit from surgery, individual health related quality of life at follow-up was lower than the German average and only few patients returned back to work. Whether this is influenced by the type of surgical therapy, comorbidities, or other individual factors needs to be evaluated in future studies.
