Saphenous nerve evoked potentials and the assessment of intraabdominal lesions of the femoral nerve.

A technique for recording somatosensory evoked potentials after stimulation of the patellar branch of the saphenous nerve is described and the results from 11 normal subjects and from two patients with intraabdominal femoral nerve injuries are presented. One patients developed a nerve lesion after an abdominal surgical procedure and the second suffered a gunshot wound causing femoral nerve paralysis. Both patients recovered spontaneously. Evoked potentials from saphenous nerves showed a significant discrepancy between faster motor recovery and delay in reinstating sensory axonal conduction.