Occurrence of nerve entrapment lesion in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence of nerve entrapment syndrome in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Methods: We retrospectively evaluated neurophysiologic results of 41 (25 male and 16 female, mean age 49.8, range 11–87) patients with CIDP. We evaluated the frequency of focal neurophysiologic lesion at entrapment site distinguishing two kinds of lesion: (a) true entrapment; and (b) false entrapment on the basis of nerve conduction results. Results: Occurrence of focal aggression within the entrapment site is similar to that out of the entrapment site in all examined nerves. Conclusions: The entrapment sites are not an elective zone of focal autoimmune aggression in CIDP. Therefore, in CIDP patients a true entrapment, neurophysiologically demonstrated, could be a concomitant pathology and if a severe and persistent entrapment worsens functional deficit and symptoms, a surgical decompression could be useful.