Assessment of motor nerve conduction in healthy obese Indian population

Background and Aim: Motor nerve conduction studies help to understand the functional status of the peripheral and central nerves. Some of the studies in industrial workers have correlated the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome with obesity and studied the function of the median nerve alone. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing nerve conduction of major peripheral nerves in the obese individual without any comorbid condition or systemic complication. Methods: Upon meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 52 age‑matched subjects were included in the study. They were divided into two groups (25 in control and 27 in study group; obese) based on their body mass index. Motor nerve conduction parameters (standardized distal motor latency in ms, amplitude of compound muscle action potential in mV and motor nerve conduction velocity in m/s) were recorded and the difference in these parameters between the groups was assessed using independent t‑test. Results: All the parameters depicted decreased motor conduction velocity in peripheral nerves (median, ulnar, tibial and common peroneal) in obese individuals compared with the control group. There was a significant prolongation of latency in all nerves and decrease in amplitude except in the tibial nerve. There was also a significant decrease in conduction velocity of tibial nerve in obese subjects compared to controls. Conclusion: From the present study, we observe that in obesity, there are increase in motor nerve latencies, decrease in the amplitude of action potentials and conduction velocity, which indicate slow transmission in peripheral nerve fibers.