Correlations between Electro-Diagnostic Findings, the Severity of Initial Infection, and the Rehabilitation Outcomes among COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Patients with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) manifest many neuromuscular complications. We evaluated the correlations between electromyography and nerve conduction measurements among COVID-19 patients and the severity of the initial infection, as well as the rehabilitation outcomes, and searched for the factors which best predict the rehabilitation outcomes. A total of 19 COVID-19 patients (16 men; mean ± SD age 59.1 ± 10.4), with WHO clinical progression scale of 6.8 ± 2.3, received rehabilitation for 3.9 ± 2.5 months. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the 10 m walk test, the 6 minute walk test, and grip force were collected before and after the rehabilitation period. Motor Nerve Conduction (MNC), Sensory Nerve Conduction (SNC) and electromyographic abnormalities were measured. All of the MNC measures of the median nerve correlated with the WHO clinical progression scale and duration of acute hospitalization. The MNC and SNC measures correlated with the rehabilitation duration and with FIM at discharge. The MNC distal latency of the median and the peroneal nerves and the MNC velocity of the median and tibial nerves predicted 91.6% of the variance of the motor FIM at discharge. We conclude that nerve conduction measurements, especially in COVID-19 patients with severe illness, are important in order to predict prognosis and rehabilitation outcomes.

Keywords

• electromyography
• EMG/NCS
• WHO clinical progression scale
• functional independence measure
• pain
• rehabilitation