Short-term femoral nerve complications following percutaneous transfemoral procedures.

PURPOSE

To determine the prevalence of transient femoral nerve anesthesia following transfemoral angiographic procedures.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Fifty-eight patients undergoing a variety of routine transfemoral procedures underwent a neurologic assessment within an hour of the procedure.

RESULTS

Nine patients (16%) were found to have complete or partial deficits in the ipsilateral femoral nerve territory. All deficits were transient.

CONCLUSIONS

Transient femoral nerve deficits are not uncommon following transfemoral procedures. With the advent of true outpatient vascular procedures (where the patient may walk away after only a 30-minutes recovery period following a transvenous intervention or after 60 minutes following arteriography), transient neurologic problems related to the infiltration of local anesthetic around the femoral artery assume real clinical importance.