Abstract

Background: Nerve conduction studies (NCSs) are performed for diagnosis and prognosis of disorders of the peripheral nervous system. Most physiological parameters show diurnal fluctuations. The time at which nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is performed may influence the recorded values if there are diurnal variations in NCV. Diurnal variations in NCV have not been studied in detail and there is a paucity of literature for the same. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to investigate the diurnal variations in ulnar motor NCV (MNCV).
Materials and Methods: NCSs were performed on 89 healthy volunteers (76 males and 13 females) of age range from 18 to 22 years.
Results: The mean age, height, weight, and body mass index of our study group were 20.68 ± 1.77 years, 168.02 ± 8.03 cm, 59.57 ± 10.31 kg, and 21.11 ± 3.11 kg/m2 , respectively. Motor NCSs for ulnar nerve revealed no statistically significant diurnal variation in either limb. MNCV was also found to be similar for both genders. Increasing height of the subjects was associated with decrease in MNCV for ulnar nerve while raised pulse rates were found associated with increasing MNCVs. Conclusion: Our study suggests that there is no significant diurnal variation in ulnar MNCVs.