Meralgia paraesthetica as the first symptom of a metastatic tumor in the lumbar spine

Meralgia paraesthetica is clinically characterized by a disturbed sensation at the anterolateral side of the thigh with normal motor function. The syndrome is usually caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. We now report a patient in whom meralgia paraesthetica was the first manifestation of a metastatic carcinoma in the second lumbar vertebra. Other cases of meralgia paraesthetica probably caused by nerve root compression have been described by others. Therefore we advocate ancillary investigations in this usually harmless clinical syndrome in order to rule out a lesion of the second or third lumbar root.