Normal neurophysiologic parameters of the sural nerve among adult healthy Sudanese population

Abstract

Background: Nerve conduction studies (NCSs) are of central importance for the assessment of peripheral nervous system disorders. They help in the diagnosis, extent distribution of neural lesion as well as the prognosis of a disease process. The aim of this study is to establish normative NCS reference data of the sural nerve in Sudanese population for our EMG electrodiagnostic center; and to survey the effects of age, gender, height, weight and temperature on conduction Parameters. Methods: The study was conducted in Elmagzoub Neuroscience Electrodiagnostic Centre; supported by the Faculty of Medicine, National Ribat University, Khartoum, Sudan. NCSs were performed in 210 sural nerves of 105 adult healthy Sudanese subjects using standardized techniques. Results: The Right sural nerve SNAP parameters in the whole subjects were set as (mean ±standard deviation) for onset latency. peak latency, amplitude and conduction velocity. The values were 2.73±0.42 ms, 3.32±0.46 ms, 8.39±3.49 uV and 52.05±8.47 m/s, respectively. The Left sural nerve SNAP parameters in the whole study group were 2.71±0.50 ms, 3.29 ±0.52 ms, 8.54±4.56 uV and 52.66 ±8.95, respectively. Conclusion: The sural sensory nerve conduction parameters compared favorably with the existing literature. Age showed a positive correlation with latencies, and negative correlation with amplitude and velocity. Gender has conspicuous effect on all sural nerve conduction parameters. Height showed an effect on latency and conduction velocity whereas BMI revealed a negative correlation with amplitude and conduction velocity of sural nerve.