Sciatic nerve palsy – a complication of posterior approach using enhanced soft tissue repair for total hip arthroplasty

Received 26 July 2009; accepted 13 October 2009. published online 30 November 2009.

Summary

Sciatic nerve palsy is a rare but well recognised complication of total hip replacement. There are a variety of potential causes of sciatic nerve palsy and its prevalence with different approaches has been mentioned in the literature.

The posterolateral or ‘Southern’ approach with some form of enhanced soft tissue repair is a commonly used approach for primary total hip arthroplasty. However, the sciatic nerve is recognised to be in close proximity to the surgical field. We report a case of sciatic nerve palsy after this approach as a result of a surgical suture used for soft tissue repair.

Keywords: Sciatic nerve palsy, Complication, Total hip replacement

a Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, Wales SA6 6NL, UK

b Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, Wales SA6 6NL, UK

Corresponding author. Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit, Jubilee Building, Royal Infirmary, 84 Castle Street, Glasgow, Scotland G4 0SF, UK. Tel.: +44 211 15600; fax: +44 141 211 15652.

PII: S1748-6815(09)00739-6

doi:10.1016/j.bjps.2009.10.014

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