Electrical studies in the diagnosis of compression of the lumbar root.

A series of 100 patients with pain in the leg was studied and the accuracy of electrical studies in the diagnosis of nerve root lesions was investigated before operation. The electrical studies which were performed on all the patients, included recordings of fibrillation potentials, H-reflex and ankle reflex latencies. This diagnosis technique was found to be more accurate than radiculography or clinical examination and did not give false evidence. Seventy patients were classed as having a lesion of the nerve root. Fifty of these patients were treated surgically. The operation revealed compression of the nerve root by osteophytes arising from degenerative and incompletely dislocated posterior facet joints in 43 patients.