Changes in Surface Electromyography Signal according to Severity in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

• Published in: Journal of Electrodiagnosis and Neuromuscular Diseases Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 15 - 22
• Main Authors: Kim, Chang-Beom, Park, Chan-Hyuk, Kim, Chang-Hwan, Lee, Hyun-Sung, Kim, Myeong-Ok
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한근전도전기진단의학회 30.06.2020
• Subjects: 재활의학
• ISSN: 2733-6581; 2733-659X
• DOI: 10.18214/jend.2020.22.1.15

Objective: To assess whether surface electromyography (SEMG) can provide additional information to conventional nerve conduction studies (NCS) in patients with mild Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Method: Patients with CTS were classified into mild and moderate-to-severe groups based on conventional NCS. Healthy subjects served as the control group, and NCS were performed on them. The root mean square (RMS), median power frequency (MDF), mean power frequency (MNF), and neuromuscular efficiency (NME) values were obtained using SEMG. We observed significant changes in the SEMG signals in CTS patients compared to healthy subjects. We also examined the correlation between SEMG signal changes and conventional NCS according to the severity of CTS in the patients. Results: The moderate-to-severe group showed significantly lower RMS values than the control group, but there was no difference between the other groups. RMS values were associated with mid-palm-to-wrist sensory nerve conduction velocity in the mild group. However, there was a significant correlation between RMS and all NCS parameters in the moderate-to-severe group. Simple linear regression showed that the finger-to-wrist sensory nerve conduction velocity among the NCS parameters affecting RMS had the strongest effect. Conclusion: SEMG does not supplement conventional NCS in patients with mild CTS. SEMG can support conventional NCS to some extent for moderate-to-severe CTS patients. KCI Citation Count: 0