Lumbosacral radiculopathy is a clinical disorder caused by impaired function (compression or irritation) of lumbosacral spinal nerve roots. It is manifested by low back pain radiating down into lower limbs in a dermatomal pattern, numbness, loss or decreased reflexes and also muscle weakness along myotomal pattern may be present.
There is a wide range of etiologies of lumbosacral radiculopathy, the most common etiology is spondylodegenerative changes as lumbar disc herniation.
For definitive diagnosis of lumbosacral radiculopathy, there are variable diagnostic modalities which include magnetic resonance imaging of lumbosacral spine and electrophysiological studies of lower limb nerves.
F wave is one of the late responses which is used to study proximal nerve involvement, it is a low amplitude response produced by antidromic activation of motor neurons.
Aim of the work
Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of F wave as an electro-diagnostic test and its reliability for diagnosing lumbosacral radiculopathy in clinically suspected patients.