Neurophysiological examination of dorsal sural nerve

Nerve conduction study of the dorsal sural nerve (DSN) has been reported to be a sensitive method for early detection of peripheral neuropathies. However, normal reference values are scarce and vary greatly among the different studies.

A comprehensive neurophysiological study, including nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) recording, was performed in 294 healthy subjects (21-86 years) with no evidence of neuropathy.

The amplitude of the DSN SNAP ranged from 2.50 to 15.90 μV, and NCV ranged from 28.9 to 52.8 m/s. A significant age-related decrease in DSN SNAP amplitude and NCV was observed. The mean ratio of sural NCV to DSN NCV was 1.33 ± 0.19, and the mean ratio of sural nerve SNAP amplitude to DSN SNAP amplitude was 3.17 ± 1.33.

These normative data of the DSN might be used as reference values for the study of this very distal peripheral nerve.