Measurements of Peripheral Nerves: Comparison of Ultrasound, MRI and Direct Intraoperative Data
Aim. Assess the accuracy of measurement of peripheral nerves by ultrasound (US). Material and methods. Peripheral nerve diameters on different sites were measured using US, MRI and with manual measurement intraoperatively. US measurement and direct measurement of nerve diameters were made independently by US operator and neurosurgeon. US measurement was done by two independent investigators. Maximal and minimal diameter was measured in each case. The data were collected and then estimated statistically using linear Pearson correlation and range Spearmen correlation methods. Results. Obtained data have shown high correlation between US measurements compared with MRI and with direct intraoperative measurement with +0.98 (Pearson c.c.), +0.97 (Spearmen c.c.) and +0.97 (Pearson c.c.), +0.95 (Spearmen c.c.) respectively, when compared with the independent operator +0.99. Also, nerve diameters measured with US were slightly greater in all cases in compare with MRI data and direct intraoperative measurements, that can be explained by US measurement features. Conclusion. Ultrasound examination allows to highly accurately measure the peripheral nerves. Dependence of results from the operator is minimized when measured by the standard method.