Objective: To study the association between pregnancy and meralgia. paresthetica (MP), the entrapment neuropathy of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN). Methods: Three hundred and forty pregnant women were surveyed by history and clinical examination in 3 major Obstetric Centers in Baghdad for the presence of underlying MP and compared to a control group of 200 non-pregnant females. Results: Thirteen pregnant women were found to have MP (3.8%) in contrast to only one out of 200

more »

... nt women in the control group (0.5%) ,which was significant statistically (P= 0.019). Most of the cases were in their third trimester (53.8%), then in the second trimester (38.5%), while only 7.7% of cases in the first trimester. Conclusion: MP in pregnancy is not a rare disorder but is often misdiagnosed. The etiological factors in pregnancy may be mechanical and/or anatomical variations of the LFCN. However, this study disproves neither a hormonal nor a hereditary role in the causation of the disorder.