JA Clinical Reports (Feb 2024)

Left common peroneal nerve palsy caused by cross-legged sitting during epidural labor analgesia: a case report

  • Shunya Ogawa,
  • Hirotsugu Kanda,
  • Hiromichi Kurosaki,
  • Tomoyuki Kawamata

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40981-024-00698-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 4

Abstract

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Abstract Background Nerve injury in epidural labor analgesia can occur with various potential causes. We report a rare case of left common peroneal nerve palsy after delivery caused by a prolonged period of sitting cross-legged during epidural labor. Case report Epidural labor analgesia in a 28-year-old primipara started at 39 weeks of gestation. She sat cross-legged to prompt delivery for approximately 4 h with a break of a few minutes every hour. She had numbness in her left lower limb and difficulty in dorsiflexion of the ankle joint that did not improve until 3 h after delivery. We made a diagnosis of left common peroneal nerve palsy. Most of the symptoms had improved at 2 months postpartum. Conclusion Epidural labor analgesia prevented recognition of prolonged peroneal head compression caused by sitting cross-legged. When this position is used to facilitate delivery, it should be released frequently owing to the possibility of a neurologic deficit.

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