Neuromuscular disorders in patients with intermittent claudication.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of claudication on nerve function in patients with unilateral peripheral arterial disease.
Design: Prospective study.
Setting: District hospital, The Netherlands.
Subjects: 11 Patients with unilateral intermittent claudication (diagnosed from history and ankle-brachial blood pressure index) underwent electrophysiological studies of both legs, including nerve conduction velocities, motor unit action potentials, H-reflex measurements, and muscle strength testing. The asymptomatic leg was used as the control in each case.
Results: Six patients had neuropathy in both the claudicating and the control leg. Three other patients had neuropathy in the claudicating leg only, which consisted mainly of disorders of nerve conduction including the H-reflex. There was no clear difference between muscle strength in the symptomatic and control legs, possibly because more than half the patients studied, had neuropathy in both legs.
Conclusions: Neuropathy is common at an early stage of arterial disease and could be one of the factors leading to impaired muscle function in such patients.