Obturator nerve entrapment: diagnosis and laparoscopic treatment: technical case report.

Abstract

Obturator neuralgia consists of pain radiating from the obturator nerve territory to the inner thigh. We report a case of idiopathic obturator neuralgia resulting from compression of the obturator nerve in the obturator canal, causing a case of nerve entrapment syndrome. The pain was characterized by its localization in the inguinal region and anterointernal side of the thigh, going down to the internal side of the knee. It was worse when standing or in a monopodal stance. Walking caused pain and a limp. The diagnosis was confirmed by an analgesic block. The analgesic was infiltrated using a posterior approach and computer-assisted tomography, allowing the quality and specificity of the infiltration to be judged. We describe, for the first time, a treatment of obturator neuralgia by a minimally invasive laparoscopic approach. This involved an obturator nerve neurolysis and section of the internal obturator muscle and the obturator membrane.