title: Clinical value of electrodiagnostic testing following repair of peripheral nerve lesions: a prospective study.
abstract: This study prospectively assessed the level of correlation between functional and electrophysiological recovery after median and ulnar nerve lacerations. Motor and sensory recovery were recorded clinically and electrophysiologically every 3 months in 24 patients with 29 complete median or ulnar nerve lacerations. The strength of agreement between the clinical motor score and the electrophysiological score was "fair", but in 41% a discrepancy was identified (kappa factor 0.39). Regeneration was not detected earlier by electrophysiology than by a thoroughly performed clinical evaluation. This suggests that electrophysiologic testing is of value as an adjunct to clinical assessment for evaluating cases in which there is clinical doubt as to the progress of regeneration and secondary surgery is contemplated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Rotterdam Dijkzigt and Erasmus University Medical School, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Van de Kar
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jaquet
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meulstee
authors.forename: C B H
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Molenar
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schimsheimer
authors.forename: S E R
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hovius
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004568:Electrodiagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014459:Ulnar Nerve / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery