Peripheral nerve conduction velocities in chain-saw operators

Abstract

The motor, sensory and mixed nerve conduction velocities of median and posterior tibial nerves were measured in seventeen forest workers engaged in chain-saw operation for 2 to 16 yr (mean 12 yr). The conduction velocities were significantly diminished in the distal part of the upper limb. The sensory nerve conduction velocities (SCV) of the median nerve at the part of the palm were slow in 12 workers; longer residual latency, in 6; and the mixed nerve conduction velocities slowed at the part of the forearm, in 6. From the relationships of the nerve conduction velocities to white finger attacks and electromyograms, it was assumed that vibration directly affected the distal part of the sensory and motor nerve fibers in the upper limbs,1) and that the diminished SCV in the palm was one of the most sensitive indices of vibration effects.2). © 1976, Japan Society for Occupational Health. All rights reserved.