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Clinical application of the blink reflex with stimulation of the mental nerve in lesions of the inferior alveolar nerve

Departments of Clinical Neurophysiology (Dr. Jääskeläinen) and Oral Surgery (Dr. Peltola), University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland.

We evaluated the clinical usefulness of a new modification of the blink reflex (BR) test with electrical stimulation of the innervation area of the mental nerve (MN). We studied the MN BR in 28 patients with traumatic lesions of the inferior alveolar nerve and compared the results with the clinical sensory examination. Within 3 months of the trauma, the MN BR was abnormal in 18 of 20 nerves. In lesions older than 3 months, the test was often normal (in 9 of 11 nerves) despite subjective sensory symptoms and mild clinical signs. Anatomic obstacles to nerve regeneration also gave rise to abnormal MN BR in two patients examined 2 and 4 years after the trauma. The MN BR responses were often absent after violently traumatic lesions, whereas milder injuries commonly produced only latency prolongation of the reflex components. The MN BR is a useful objective method in the diagnosis of sensory loss in the distribution of the MN.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Satu K. Jääskeläinen, Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Central Hospital, Kiinamyllynkatu 4–8, FIN-20520 Turku, Finland.

Supported by a grant from the Orion Corporation Research Foundation.

Received March 16, 1994. Accepted in final form June 8, 1994.

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