STANDARDIZED NERVE-CONDUCTION STUDIES IN THE LOWER-LIMB OF THE HEALTHY ELDERLY

Nerve conduction studies are commonly performed in elderly individuals . No complete set of reference data for the distal-lower limb nerves e xists for this population, making it difficult to accurately interpret electrodiagnostic findings. The purpose of this study was to provide reliable reference data by comprehensively examining conduction charac teristics in routinely tested peripheral nerves of the lower limb in a healthy elderly population. Conduction studies of the tibial, deep pe roneal, sural and medial dorsal cutaneous nerves were performed in one lower limb of 122 healthy elderly individuals between the ages of 60 and 89 years. Peak amplitudes of the sural sensory action potential an d the tibial compound muscle action potential correlated significantly with both age and leg length. All other parameters did not show signi ficant correlation with age. Conduction velocities and distal latencie s slowed significantly with increasing leg length except for tibial di stal latency.