The obstetric fistula and peroneal nerve injury: An analysis of 947 consecutive patients

Abstract

Peroneal nerve injury, resulting in leg weakness and foot drop, is seen frequently after long, obstructed labor that has caused an obstetric vesicovaginal fistula. Nine hundred and forty-seven consecutive patients treated in northern Nigeria for obstetric fistulas were reviewed for the presence of peroneal nerve trauma. The first 470 patients were reviewed retrospectively, and 25 (5.3%) were noted to have presented with significant motor weakness. The next 470 patients were prospectively evaluated by both history and physical examination. In this group, 311 (64.9%) women had either a history or current signs of peroneal nerve injury at the time of admission for fistula repair. Injuries were more common on the right side and were more commonly apparent in the first 2 years after the obstetric trauma causing the fistula.