Two novel methods to assess ulnar nerve conduction across the elbow

Purpose Nerve conduction studies (NCS) are used as an electrodiagnostic method for diagnosing ulnar neuropathy of the elbow (UNE). The purpose of this study was to determine normal and reliability values of across elbow ulnar nerve conduction velocity using two novel methods. Methods Ulnar nerve conduction studies were performed on both upper extremities of 104 healthy subjects. Two different techniques were used to evaluate ulnar nerve function at the elbow: Technique 1 (W-BE-AE) determined mixed NCV across the elbow indirectly while Technique 2 (BE-AE) measured conduction time directly. Twenty subjects returned within one week for re-testing to generate reliability data. Results The mean NCV for the BE-AE segment using Technique 1 was 59.68 m/s (±8.91 m/s). The mean peak latency for the BE-AE segment using Technique 2 was 2.03 ms (±0.24 ms). The interrater and intrarater reliability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for Technique 1 was 0.454 and 0.756, respectively. For Technique 2, the interrater and intrarater reliability ICC was 0.76 and 0.814, respectively. Conclusion This study identified normal values for ulnar nerve conduction across the elbow with reliability ranging from poor to good, depending on the technique. These two novel techniques provide alternative methods to traditional techniques to measure ulnar nerve conduction across the elbow.