Compound nerve conduction velocity – A reflection of proprioceptive afferents?

Abstract

Objective To gather the required sample size to compare compound nerve conduction velocities (CV) to cutaneous sensory CVs and motor CVs to find out if there are statistically significant differences between these nerve fibre populations. Methods We report age, height, and temperature standardized CVs for cutaneous sensory, motor, and compound nerve fibres measured by electroneuromyography (ENMG) for 109 median nerves in 74 people from different age groups with no known neuropathy (age 50.4, median 49, range 21–87). Results In the region of the forearm, mean CVs were 63.6 m/s (CI = 62.6–64.7) for compound nerve fibres, 61.3 m/s (CI = 60.1–62.5) for cutaneous sensory fibres, and 56.3 m/s (CI = 55.1–57.6) for motor fibres (for all p < 0.001). Age explained most of the variation of CVs (Pearson’s coefficients −0.394, −0,538, and −0.443, respectively, for all p ⩽ 0.002), but also height and temperature displayed minor explanatory effects in multivariate analysis. Conclusions It appears that compound nerve CVs are faster than cutaneous sensory and motor CVs. Compound nerve CV may represent muscle spindle afferents. Significance These data contribute to an understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms that are involved in normal function of the human peripheral nervous system.