neuropathy after ablation

Dr. McWilliams:

Have you ever heard of neuropathy of the thigh after an ablation? I had my ablation done the end of January, and as soon as I was totally awake from the procedure I noticed that I had no feeling on the outside of my right thigh (from the top of the thigh to almost the knee). Every now and then I get a burning feeling (like my thigh is on fire) or a "pins and needles" feeling. My regular EP and the EP that did the ablation have given me different opinions as to why they feel this has happened, and I should just "wait and see" and eventually the neuropathy should go away.
Have you ever seen this before in any of your patients? If so, does it go away? Should I see a neurologist?
The great thing is that since the ablation I have not had any a-fib or a-flutter attacks. But now I have to deal with this problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

I have seen similar things before. When they are obtaining access into the groin, the nerve, artery and vein are in that order from the outside of your leg to the inside of your leg, sometimes only separated by a few centimeters.  When we numb up the leg, if the needle or sheath is close to the nerve, it can cause what is usually transient numbness.  I have seen a patient that couldn't suppport their weight for 6 hours while the lidocaine wore off.  If the numbness lasted longer than that and if it is related to the procedure, the nerve may have been damaged by the needle, sheath or even position of your leg for what was probably a 4-6 hour procedure.

It is hard to say how long it will take to recover and there is probably a chance that it might not recover.  It wouldn't hurt to see a neurologist, but I am also not sure that it would help either.

I hope this helps you.  Congrats on the successful ablation.