Which patients do we need to consider augmentation of muscle active potentials regarding transcranial electrical stimulation motor-evoked potentials monitoring before spine surgery?

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is important to prevent spinal cord or nerve root injuries during spinal surgery. Among the various modalities, transcranial electrical stimulation motor-evoked potentials (Tc-MEPs) have been widely used for IONM to assess motor pathway damage [1,2]. However, the amplitudes of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) can be suppressed by anesthetics and neuromuscular blockers [2,3]. Furthermore, patient-related factors such as preoperative motor deficits, age, presence of a lesion in the spinal cord, and endogenous diseases may also affect CMAPs [4 –7].

Source: The Spine Journal - April 26, 2024 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Takahiro Mui, Hideki Shigematsu, Tsunenori Takatani, Masaki Ikejiri, Sachiko Kawasaki, Hironobu Hayashi, Masahiko Kawaguchi, Yasuhito Tanaka Tags: Clinical Study Source Type: research