[ON NERVE CONDUCTION STUDIES AND ELECTROMYOGRAM IN THE COMMUNITY]

Nerve conduction studies (NCS) and electromyograms (EMG) constitute an expansion of the neurological examination and help to reach the diagnosis or localize the pathological process. Planning the electrophysiological study and drawing conclusions depend on the skills of the examiner, his experience and the time available for the study. The studies carried out within the framework of the community are carried out in part by skilled physicians, but the time and conditions at their disposal do not enable the proper performance of the studies. The main faults in performing NCS are fewer than needed nerve tests, lack of paying attention to conduction blocks, lack of reporting of proximal amplitudes, lack of reporting of the duration and dispersion of the potentials, and lack of display of potential curves in the summary report. The main drawbacks in the EMG studies are missed spontaneous activity due to too short a stay of the needle electrode in the muscle, a subjective assessment of the size of the motor units and the recruitment pattern because of not using the EMG software for this evaluation objectively. Electrophysiological studies have been performed improperly for many years, causing damage to patients and misleading referring physicians. This actuality should be changed.