Intraoperative loss of somatosensory-evoked potentials predicts loss of spinal cord function

Somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEP) can be used to monitor spinal cord function during operations on the spinal column and within the spinal canal. Studies in animals have shown that spinal cord injuries of sufficient severity to irreversibly obliterate these potentials consistently produce major neurologic deficits. This report describes the correlation, in a patient, between intraoperative loss of SSEP and permanent injury to the spinal cord.