Inherited neuropathy can cause postpartum foot drop

Abstract

Postpartum neurological complications occur in up to 1% of deliveries. Often prior anesthetic procedures are blamed, with medicolegal implications. We describe a young woman who presented with postpartum foot drop diagnosed as an iatrogenic L5 root lesion after uncomplicated epidural anesthesia. After neurological assessment some 5 mo later she tested positive for the common hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies mutation that was a likely contributing factor in the development of her postpartum neuropathy. Anesthesiologists should consider hereditary neuropathies in the differential diagnosis of postpartum or postsurgical neurological deficits if there is a suggestive clinical history.