Difference of the H-reflex latency as measured by electromyography is known as a useful diagnostic test for lumbosacral root syndrome.
The H-reflex and Achilles tendon reflex(ankle jerk) utilizes similar neural pathways, except that the H-reflex method bypasses the muscle spindle.
The T-reflex method was found to be simple, time conserving, non-invasive, and provided a quantitative measure of the NCVs of the peripheral nerve and lumbosacral root syndrome, Thus, it may be useful for the early detection of related impairment
of the
peripheral nerve and lumbosacral root.
The authors performed an achilles tendon reflex test by the electrical hammer method which utilizes similar electrophysiological pathways as the H-reflex method. We also studied the usefulness of this method in comparison to the H-reflex method.
@ES Method:
@EN A comparative study between the H-reflex and T-reflex was carried out from January 1995 to January 1996. The control group for this study contained 32 healthy participants had had no previous problems with their lumbosacral area. The
experimental(patient) group consisted of 24 patients who had visited the RM OPD during this period and were diagnosed with lesions using MRI and Needle EMG. The EMG was carried out using the Saphire 4ME by Medelec and an electrical hammer. All of
the
participants in the study were examined while they were in the prone position.
@ES The results are as follows:
@EN The average latencies of the control group were 27.85msec and 29.65msec using the H-reflex and T-reflex respectively. However, taking into account the age and height differences of the members of the control group, the difference in the
average
latencies were found to be insignificant(p<0.05). Furthermore, 19 cases or 79.2% of the experimental(patient) group were found to be abnormal using the H-reflex method, while T-reflex method found 17 cases or 70.8% to be abnormal. Combining the
H-reflex
and T-reflex methods, 17 cases or 70.8% were found to be abnormal. From this study the authors have concluded that there is no significant difference between the results using either the H-reflex or the T-reflex or the T-reflex methods.
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