THE EXPERIENCE OF A TERTIARY CENTER: DISTRIBUTION AND CONSISTENCY OF THE ELECTRONEUROMYOGRAPHY REQUESTS AND THE FINAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS IN OLDER AGE

OpenAlex İngilizce

Introduction: Electroneuromyography is a test to evaluate peripheral nervous system disorders in a laboratory setting. Considering accompanying comorbidities, the geriatric age group constitutes a naive and unique segment of society. This study aimed to determine the ratio of electroneuromyography requests in individuals over 70 to all electroneuromyography requests and the compatibility of the requests and preliminary diagnoses with the results, applied procedures, and the departments making the requests. Materials and Method: We retrospectively reviewed the electroneuromyography reports of individuals over 70 who applied to our electroneuromyography laboratory between 2018 and 2023. Results: After a five-year query, 1,056 records, 11.4% of all electroneuromyography requests, were detected. A combination of nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography was performed in 68.2% of the patients. Polyneuropathy was the most requested electroneuromyography test protocol (n = 490, 42.7%). The most frequent electrophysiological diagnosis was polyneuropathy (n = 336), followed by lumbosacral radiculopathy (n = 297) and median nerve entrapment neuropathy in the wrist segment (n = 258). The primary diagnosis and electrophysiological findings were consistent in 55.2% of the cases. Most physicians referring patients to our electroneuromyography unit were neurologists. There were no significant differences among the departments in terms of the compatibility between the clinical preliminary and electrophysiological diagnoses (p = 0.15). Conclusion: Polyneuropathy was the most common peripheral nervous system disorder in our study’s geriatric population. The combination of nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography was determined to be the most applied procedure. When we compared the departments’ requests, there was no significant difference in compatibility. Keywords: Aged; Electromyography; Geriatrics; Neuromuscular Diseases.