Peroneal nerve motor conduction to the proximal muscles. An alternative approach to conventional methods.

Abstract

By using a fixed 8-cm distance between the stimulating and recording electrodes, we describe a new approach to peroneal nerve motor conduction studies to the proximal muscles. The recording active electrodes were fastened over the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus, while the stimulating cathode was placed at the posterolateral border of the fibular neck. The skin temperature was maintained at or above 32 degrees C in the lateral surface of the proximal shin. In normal subjects, 81 deep and superficial peroneal nerves were tested to establish reference values. The latencies to the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus were 2.5 +/- 0.3 (range, 2-3) ms and 2.6 +/- 0.2 (range, 1.9-3) ms, respectively. The amplitudes of compound muscle action potential for deep and superficial peroneal nerves were 6.2 +/- 1.3 (range, 3.6-9.3) and 6.2 +/- 1.7 (range, 3.4-10.6) mV, respectively. Also, 17 adult onset diabetic patients were tested for comparison. We concluded that this alternative test to the conventional methods is accessible for electrophysiologic evaluation of peroneal neuropathy.