title: Peripheral nervous system involvement in chronic spinal cord injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Upper motor neuron disorders are believed to leave the peripheral nervous system (PNS) intact. In this study we examined whether there is evidence of PNS involvement in spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve subjects with chronic low cervical or thoracic SCI were included prospectively. Needle electromyography was done in 10 different muscles in each subject bilaterally. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) were conducted in the fibular, tibial, and femoral motor and fibular and sural sensory nerves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half the subjects had widespread abnormal spontaneous activity (SA), and the amount of SA correlated inversely with reflex activity and nerve length. Fibular nerve entrapment across the knee was seen in 6 subjects, and sciatic nerve entrapment was seen in 1. Apart from entrapment neuropathies, NCS changes were found predominantly in motor nerves.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of widespread electrophysiologic changes outside entrapment sites indicates that SCI has a significant impact on the entire PNS, affecting the motor part predominantly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tankisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pugdahl
authors.affiliation: The Spinal Cord Research Centre, Department of Neurosurgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.|Pelvic Floor Unit, Department of Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mikkel Mylius
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.affiliation: The Spinal Cord Research Centre, Department of Neurosurgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Dorte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Clemmensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Yazan F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Rawashdeh
authors.affiliation: Pelvic Floor Unit, Department of Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krogh
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade 44, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuglsang-Frederiksen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004576:Electromyography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: electromyography; nerve conduction study; peripheral nervous system; spinal cord injury; spontaneous activity