Electrophysiologic Study in Workers Handling Vibrating Tools

J Korean Assoc EMG Electrodiagn Med 2003;5(2):87-91.
Published online May 10, 2003.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate electrophysiologic findings in the upper limbs of symptomatic dockyard workers with exposure to hand-transmitted vibration. Methods: A detailed electrophysiologic investigation was performed on the upper extremities of 153 dockyard workers with symptoms in hands. Specify the tests were used to help substantiate a clinical diagnosis of hand arm vibration syndrome. Some other diseases were excluded by a medical interview, hematologic assessment, urinalysis, plain x-ray studies. Results: The average years of tool use was 14.58±4.84 years and the average hours of tool use in day time was 4.850±3.06 hours. Neurological findings was not associated with age, years of tool use, total hours of exposure to vibration and smoking. Abnormal electrophysiologic findings in the upper limbs was observed in 42 of 153 dockyard workers (27.8%). The results showed that the circumscribed lesions of the carpal tunnel syndrome (38.1%), the cervical radiculopathy (33.3%), peripheral polyneuropathy (23.8%), and others (4.8%). Conclusion: This study emphasizes the need for electrophysiologic test in order to evaluate the impairment of upper limb function observed in vibration-exposed workers.

Key Words: Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, Peripheral neuropathy, Electrophysiologic investigation, Hand transmitted vibration