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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
In Vivo Electrophysiological Measurements on Mouse Sciatic Nerves
Published on: April 13, 2014
Diagnostic value of electrophysiological tests in patients with sciatica
M J Albeck1, G Taher, M Lauritzen
1University Clinic of Neurosurgery, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Objectives:
To assess the diagnostic value of electrophysiological tests in patients with sciatica.
Materials And Methods:
The diagnostic value of electrophysiological tests were evaluated in 25 patients with monoradicular sciatica. The electrophysiological study included dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials, electromyography, F-wave latencies, H-reflexes and motor and sensory nerve conduction determinations. The results of the electrophysiological examinations were evaluated blindly, and the test results were analysed separately by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Furthermore, the 5 modalities were evaluated jointly and analysed by a decision-analytic regret function.
Results:
A high predictive value was found for the H-reflex examination, but low for the other modalities. When the 5 modalities were evaluated jointly, a non-significant decrease in expected regret from the pre-test situation of 0.96 to a value of 0.93 in post-test situation was revealed.
Conclusion:
Electrophysiological testing is not sufficient as stand-alone examination in patients with sciatica.
