The lumbosacral electromyographic screen: revisiting a classic paper

Objective: Knutsson (Acta Orthopaed Scand (1961) 1) published a classic the sis comparing lower limb electromyography (EMG) results with intra-operativ e findings for 206 patients with sciatica. This unique and detailed work pr esented a rare opportunity to again use this data and determine the optimal number of muscles in a screening examination; a different study aim to tha t of the original investigator, Methods: Data from Knutsson (1961) were used to determine the identificatio n rates and sensitivities with respect to clinical and intraoperative diagn ostic standards, for various muscle screens. Results: Selected 4 muscle EMG screens identified over 97% of EMG confirmed radiculopathies and over 89% of surgically confirmed radiculopathies. Conclusions: These findings underscore the utility of 4 muscle EMG screens in the evaluation of patients with suspected lumbosacral radiculopathy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.