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Neuromuscular Medicine

Neuromuscular Medicine is a subspecialty area of practice Neurology dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the peripheral nerve and muscle. Dr. McKinnon has completed two fellowships which specifically relate to this spectrum of disorders. He completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, which focuses on diagnostic testing for peripheral nerve and muscle disorders. The second fellowship, Neuromuscular Medicine, he completed at The University of California, Irvine, which focuses on workup and management of disorders of the peripheral nerve and muscle.

With this training background, Dr. McKinnon is well versed in diagnosing and managing the spectrum of diseases that are seen in Neuromuscular specialty clinics. Additionally, Dr. McKinnon routinely interprets muscle and nerve biopsies, a skill set which is necessary in the diagnosis and management of certain disorders of the peripheral nerve and muscle.

Dr. McKinnon has established a multidisciplinary ALS clinic, which is a once-monthly clinic devoted to the management of patients with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gherig’s Disease). This clinic typically includes participation by various specialists, including: ALS of Nevada Representative, Respiratory Therapist, Nutritionist, Occupational Therapist, and other support personnel to help meet the unique needs of patients with this disease.

Neuromuscular Conditions

Symptoms evaluated by neuromuscular specialists:

• numbness
• tingling
• abnormal skin sensations (paresthesias)
• limb pain
• facial pain
• back pain
• weakness
• muscle twitching
• cramping
• fatigue
• speech difficulty (dysarthria)
• swallowing difficulty (dysphagia)
• certain forms of respiratory difficulty (dyspnea)
• double vision (diplopia)
• droopy eyelids (ptosis)

Diseases managed by neuromuscular specialists:

• peripheral neuropathy (also known as polyneuropathy)
• carpal tunnel syndrome and other disorders of peripheral nerve entrapment
• myopathy (such as those due to congenital disease, metabolic disease, mitochondrial disease, medications, and toxins)
• myositis (such as inclusion body myositis, dermatomyositis, and polymyositis)
• muscular dystrophy (such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy)
• myotonic dystrophy
• myasthenia gravis
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gherig’s Disease
• radiculopathy (nerve impingement in the spine)
• brachial plexopathy
• lumbosacral plexopathy
• facial neuropathy (Bell’s Palsy)
• hereditary spastic paraparesis
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and other hereditary neuropathies
• spinal muscular atrophies
• poliomyelitis
• stiff-person syndrome
• Guillaine-Barre syndrome
• chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
• neuropathies related to vasculitis, systemic disease, infection, nutritional deficiency, malignancy, toxins, endocrine disease, and other conditions