[Peripheral neuropathy caused by incongruous posture in shoe manufacture workers]

Nine cases of local neuropathy are described in shoe-manufacture workers. Clinical and electrophysiological examination excluded diseases such as toxic polyneuropathies due to n-hexane. Specific lesions of the ulnar nerve were located near the elbow where the forced and uncomfortable posture facilitated the compression of the nerve in the cubital tunnel. The severity of the neuropathies ranged from relatively slight, with paresthesia of some of the fingers, to evident hypotrophy of the inter-osseous muscles of the hand. All the 9 cases sewed shoe uppers using sewing machines operating 25 cm above the arm support, thus obliging the operator to work with one or both elbows resting on the support, with the arms and shoe-upper held up. Five cases presented a neuropathy of the right arm, 3 of the left arm, and in one case the lesions were bilateral. The features of the work station are described and the possible promoting factors and the ergonomic pathogenesis of these neuropathies are discussed.