International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | April 2019 | Vol 7 | Issue 4 Page 1330 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Shakya B et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2019 Apr;7(4):1330-1335 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Motor nerve conduction study parameters in healthy individuals: effect of limb dominance Binnam Shakya 1 *, Dilip Thakur 2 , Bishnu H. Paudel 2 , Rita Khadka 2 , Suman Pokhrel 3 INTRODUCTION Almost all people have a right and left upper limb, one of which is usually preferred to the other for making different kinds of complex movements. If right upper limb is preferred over the left upper limb to perform such complex movements then the individual is right-handed and vice versa. Dominance of specific cerebral hemisphere is known for handedness although peripheral factors may also be involved. Genetic theory is well known in explaining the onset of lateralization. 1 Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) is a routine electrophysiological evoked potential study for 1 Department of Physiology, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal 2 Department of Basic and Clinical Physiology, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal 3 Department of Physiology, Birat Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal Received: 24 January 2019 Accepted: 05 March 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. Binnam Shakya, E-mail: binnam@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Nerve conduction study (NCS) is useful for evaluation of nerve, muscle, and/or neuromuscular function. Neurophysiologist interprets NCS with consideration of various anthropometric and technical parameters viz. age, gender, height, temperature etc. apart from the underlying pathology. Fewer studies have reported the effect of limb dominance on NCS. Moreover, the findings are controversial. Therefore, author aimed to investigate the effect of limb dominance on motor nerve conduction study parameters. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study included sixty healthy individuals (44 right and 16 left handed) of either sex with age 18 to 30 years. The NCS parameters of median and ulnar nerves were assessed by stimulating it and recording from the muscle and skin overlying the nerve respectively using Digital Nihon Kohden machine. The obtained data were analyzed using independent sample t-test. Results: Right ulnar nerve onset latency was significantly longer in left-handed individuals (1.85±0.508 ms vs 1.62±0.195 ms, p=0.012). The left ulnar nerve F wave minimum latency (25.88±0.74 ms vs 24.46±2.64 ms, p=0.002) was significantly longer in left-handed individuals. Likewise, right ulnar nerve distal latency (2.45±0.76 ms vs 2.14±0.39 ms, p=0.044), and right ulnar nerve F wave minimum (25.9±1.21 ms vs 24.85 ms±1.74, p=0.030) were significantly high in left-handed individuals. Conclusions: NCS parameters in terms of latencies were longer in left-handed individuals. Therefore, limb dominance seems to be an important factor one should pay attention during bilateral comparison of obtained data in neurophysiological reporting of referred cases. Keywords: Limb dominance, Motor nerves, Nerve conduction study DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20191348