Hip / Groin / Upper Leg

Femoral Neuralgia

What is femoral neuralgia?

Femoral neuralgia is a painful disorder of the femoral nerve due to damage and/or loss of function in this nerve.

Cause

Femoral neuralgia can have many causes, the most common being damage as a result of hip surgery, such as hip replacement. In addition femoral nerve neuropathy can be caused by: diabetes, pelvic haemorrhage, radiation, prostate surgery, gynaecological exploratory surgery and tumours.

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms in femoral neuralgia usually consist of an unpleasant painful feeling in the front of the upper leg.
Patients complain of a characteristic burning, stabbing pain in the thigh with a tingling sensation. There may also be pain elicited by touching the skin. In addition, patients sometimes complain of a loss of strength that mainly occurs when using the stairs.

How is femoral neuralgia diagnosed?

The diagnosis can be made based on the symptoms and by exclusion of other causes. A neurological examination must always take place.

Do I need additional examinations?

  • Diagnostic examination for other non-physical factors important for your pain, have already been done by yourself trough filling out your pain questionnaire.
  • EMG.
  • A diagnostic test block of the femoral nerve can confirm the diagnosis.

What are my treatment possibilities?

Multidisciplinary Treatment

Depending on the cause of your pain, your pain specialist will decide whether or not to embark on physical treatment. Based on the results of the completed pain questionnaire, additional examinations can be carried out and, apart from physical treatment, other methods of treatment will be suggested.

Non-physical Treatments

If the results of your pain questionnaire are abnormal, your pain specialist will offer you one of the non-physical treatments listed below:

Physical Treatments

Medication

Interventional Pain Treatments