Understanding EMG

Book excerpt: Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCS) are electrodiagnostic tests used for identifying neuromuscular diseases and for assessing low-back pain and disorders of motor control. Many doctors refer their patients to the clinical neurophysiology department for electrodiagnostic tests and are then faced with interpreting the results. This book teaches the principles of NCS and EMG, promotes better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these techniques, and thereby improves their use. Understanding EMG is different from existing books in this field since it is written for a large group of referring doctors and other healthcare professionals who need to know the basic principles of NCS and EMG, including when to request and how to interpret the tests, but who do not necessarily need to know how to perform them.