[Postpartum obturator nerve syndrome: case report and review of the nerve compression syndrome during pregnancy and delivery].

Compression of a peripheral nerve or nerve trunk can occur during pregnancy and delivery. The injury may be caused by the fetal head, the application of forceps, trauma or hematoma due to cesarean section, or improper positioning in leg holders. Often, no cause of the injury is found. The most common nerve compression syndromes during pregnancy and delivery are carpal tunnel syndrome, femoral neuropathy, and post partal foot drop. Obturator neuropathy, meralgia paraesthetica, tarsal tunnel syndrome, and syndrome of the rectus abdominis muscle occur less frequently. Symptoms, such as paraesthesia, pain and palsies not always attract the immediate attention of the physician. Sometimes they are misinterpreted as nervous complaints. Often, remission is reached at delivery. A case of obturator neuropathy after delivery is reported, and literature on clinical, pathophysiological and electrophysiological findings in maternal obstetric palsies is reviewed.