The Usefullness of Medial Plantar and Lateral Dorsal Cutaneous Branch of Sural Nerve Conduction Studies in Diabetic Patients

J Korean Assoc EMG Electrodiagn Med 2009;11(1):30-34.
Published online June 1, 2009.

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine the interexaminer reliability and to assess the clinical usefulness of medial plantar nerve (MPN) and lateral dorsal cutaneous branch of sural sensory nerve (LDSN) conduction studies in diabetic patients.
Methods: In 26 diabetic patients and 28 healthy adults participated in this study for comparison of MPN and LDSN conduction studies. We analyzed data through the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for inter-examiner reliability evaluation.
Results: In diabetic patients, the ICC was 0.963 for lateral dorsal cutaneous branch of sural sensory amplitude (LDSA), 0.958 for medial plantar sensory amplitude (MPA), 0.938 for lateral dorsal cutaneous branch of sural sensory latency (LDSL), 0.877 for medial plantar sensory latency (MPL). The most frequent abnormal electrodiagnostic parameters were the LDSA, and LDSL followed by MPA, MPL. Evaluation of both of these nerves increased the abnormality rate more than 60%.
Conclusion: According to our studies, the MPN and LDSN conduction studies are objective and highly reproducible tests. Bilateral nerve conduction study assessment of the MPN and LDSN nerves together increases the rate of diagnosis of early diabetic distal sensory neuropathy compared to assessment of either of these nerve.

Key Words: Intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC), Medial plantar nerve (MPN), Lateral dorsal cutaneous branch of sural nerve(LDSN), Diabetic distal sensory neuropathy