The spinal cord is the thick whitish bundle of nerve tissue that extends from the lowest part of the brain down through the spinal column. In humans, spinal nerves branch off from the spinal cord to various parts of the body. There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves which are grouped according to where they leave the spinal column. There are eight pairs of neck (cervical) nerves, 12 pairs of upper back (thoracic) nerves, five pairs of lower back (lumbar) nerves, five pairs of pelvis (sacral) nerves, and one pair of tail bone (coccygeal) nerves.

 

It is important for the doctors to detect any abnormality in these nerves' function when dealing with spine problems. The specialized nerve tests like EMG, NCV and SSEP are designed to diagnose any abnormality in the functioning of these nerves. These studies investigate the functioning of the nervous system, unlike the imaging studies such as CT scans or MRI scans which look at the structure or anatomy of a particular body part or organ.

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Rationale

The nerves in our bodies are very similar to electric cables. The brain and spinal cord send electrical signals through the nerves to different muscles. The muscles, in turn, have specialized mechanisms to properly understand the electrical signals and act accordingly, thus moving different parts of the body. In the 1950's scientists created a machine that was capable of detecting the electrical signals passing through the nerves to the muscles by placing sensitive detectors called electrodes at specific areas of the human body. These electrical signals could be recorded onto a TV screen just like the EKG and provided useful information about the functioning of specific nerves. We will discuss some of these techniques in the following sections.

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Many technological improvements have occurred to elctrodiagnosis since the 1950s. 

 

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Ultrasound as apart of your nerve test: 

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High frequency diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound is now utilized as an adjunctive procedure for electrodiagnostic studies. It is useful in the differential diagnosis of muscle, ligament and nerve pathology. Historically, electrodiagnostic testing is limited to a functional evaluation. MSK ultrasound offers physicians the additional aspect of an actual real time structural assessment. This is useful to help determine the underlying cause of the condition.

We can distinguish between neurological issues, mass, cysts, inflammatory process, degenerative joint disease, and tendonitis and ligament injury. The combination of electrodiagnostic testing and MSK ultrasound has the highest diagnostic value possible to physicians at a very cost effective rate. MSK ultrasound is now utilized at all major pain and neurology clinics. We are one of the first clinics utilizing this adjunctive procedure in the central Pennsylvania region. The American Academy of Neuromuscular Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) has fully endorsed MSK ultrasound in conjunction with electrodiagnostic assessment.