title: Direct spinal versus peripheral nerve stimulation as monitoring techniques in epidurally recorded spinal cord potentials.
abstract: We recorded spinal cord evoked potentials (SCEPs) and spinal somatosensory evoked potentials (spinal SEPs) in 30 operations following stimulation of the epidural spinal cord and the peripheral nerve, respectively, to compare their feasibility as an intraoperative technique for spinal cord monitoring. SCEPs produced quicker responses and had larger amplitudes with simpler waveforms. SCEPs could reflect residual function of the pathological spinal cord and predict the postoperative clinical outcome, findings which are not observed with spinal SEPs. Moreover, SCEPs had a much higher sensitivity to spinal cord insult. Therefore, we conclude that the SCEPs were more appropriate indicator than the spinal SEPs as an intra-operative monitoring method for spinal cord function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morioka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tobimatsu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*