The femoral neuralgia syndrome after arterial catheter trauma.

The increasing number of diagnostic angiograms and interventional vascular procedures has resulted in a heightened awareness of serious catheter-related vascular trauma. We reviewed 50 consecutive catheter injuries of the femoral artery that required surgical intervention and focused specifically on their long-term outcome. The most common traumatic lesion was femoral pseudoaneurysm (60%) followed by uncontrolled hemorrhage (23%) and arterial thrombosis (17%). The most frequent chronic complaint of these patients was the femoral neuralgia syndrome affecting 15 of 50 patients (30%). Typically, these patients complained of postcatheterization pain in the groin, which radiated down the anteromedial thigh (anterior femoral cutaneous nerves), and was associated with residual hyperesthesias. The neuralgia gradually improved in 6 weeks to 1 year in most patients. Chronic pain, however, necessitated multiple visits to a pain clinic or physical therapy unit in four patients (27%) and resulted in unemployment in three (20%). We conclude that current catheter-related arterial injuries are commonly associated with a chronic femoral cutaneous neuralgia syndrome that has not been emphasized previously.