Stimulus duration and pain in nerve conduction studies |
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| Authors: | Akiko Tamura MD Masahiro Sonoo MD Satoshi Hoshino DMC Tomoko Iwanami MD Hiroyuki Shimada MD Takami Miki MD Teruo Shimizu MD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Neurology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2‐11‐1 Kaga, Itabashi‐ku, Tokyo 173‐8605, Japan;2. Department of Geriatrics and Neurology, Osaka City University School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan;3. Central Laboratory, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Introduction: It is generally believed that a shorter stimulus duration is less painful in nerve conduction studies (NCS). We investigated whether a shorter duration stimulus is actually less painful when the same physiological effect, such as supramaximal stimulation, is achieved in motor NCS. Methods: The tibial nerve was stimulated at the ankle in 14 control subjects and the median nerve at the wrist in 20 subjects. Two stimulations of different durations were given blindly, and each subject was asked to report which was more painful. Results: A 0.2‐ms‐duration stimulus was significantly less painful than those with longer or shorter durations for the tibial nerve. For the median nerve, the 0.05‐ and 0.2‐ms durations were equally less painful than a 1‐ms‐duration stimulus. Conclusions: As a common duration for motor NCS, 0.2 ms seems appropriate, because the tibial nerve stimulation was more painful than the median nerve stimulation. Muscle Nerve, 2013 |
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| Keywords: | nerve conduction studies pain stimulus duration supramaximal stimulation tibial nerve |
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