Deep peroneal sensory nerve. Standardization in nerve conduction study

Ankle or foot pain may be due to various clinical conditions. Injury or entrapment of the deep peroneal sensory nerve is part of the differential diagnosis; however, no technique studying the deep peroneal sensory conduction velocity has been described. We describe a technique that is simple and reproducible with averaging. We electrophysiologically studied the deep peroneal sensory nerve in 40 neurologically healthy adult subjects. The latency to onset of the sensory action potential was 2.9 +/- 0.4 ms (range = 2.1-3.6 ms). The latency to the peak of the sensory action potential was 3.6 +/- 0.4 ms (range = 2.7-4.2 ms). The conduction velocity was 42 +/- 5 m/s (range = 33-53 m/s). The amplitude was 3.4 +/- 1.2 microV (range = 1.6-6.6 microV). We conclude that the deep peroneal sensory nerve is readily accessible for electrophysiologic evaluation. It may be of value in diagnosing deep peroneal nerve pathology.