ABSTRACT
Background: Sports activities involving repetitive force application leads to mechanical or compressive neuropathies among players. Sparse literature is available reporting such nerve pathologies among badminton players. The study was done with the objective to find out what is the influence of regular and intense practice of badminton on the nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of ulnar nerve in elite players when compared to normal healthy individuals.
Materials & Methods: 2 groups of total 20 asymptomatic male subjects, between 20-40 years age, were created where one group included elite badminton players (n=10), and another included subjects who have not participated in any of the sports activities (n=10). Conduction velocities and distal latencies for motor and sensory part of ulnar nerve was done for subjects in both groups. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for descriptive statistics and comparison was done using 2-way ANOVA test.
Results: Distal motor and sensory latencies for ulnar nerve suggested significant delays in non-badminton players when compared to elite players (p<0.05). Comparison of sensory conduction velocities for ulnar nerve between badminton players and normal subjects showed significant difference (p<0.05).
Discussion: Delay in sensory and motor conduction and reduction of sensory conduction velocities for ulnar nerve in badminton players can be attributed to repeated excursion, peripheral location of fibres, and dominance of players.
Conclusion: The results of the study concluded that there is an influence of regular and intense practice of badminton on ulnar nerve of elite players when compared to age matched normal subjects.
Keywords: Badminton, nerve conduction, ulnar nerve, upper limb.