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

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.

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.

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.