Practical Aspects of Recording Evoked Activity From Nerves, Fiber Tracts, and Nuclei

Abstract

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring employs methods and techniques similar to those currently used in the clinical neurophysiology laboratory, but there are several important differences between recording sensory evoked potentials and electromyographic (EMG) potentials for diagnostic purposes in the clinic and for doing so in order to detect changes in neural function during an operation. The operating room is usually regarded to be an electrically hostile environment, which differs from the clinical neurophysiological laboratory where recording of EMG responses and sensory evoked potentials such as auditory brainstem response (ABR), somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP), and visual evoked potentials (VEP) are usually done in electrically and acoustically shielded rooms. In the operating room, many other kinds of electronic equipment are connected to the patient.