INTRAOPERATIVE SOMATOSENSORY-EVOKED POTENTIAL MONITORING IN PEDIATRICS

In the last decade, experience with intraoperative somatosensory evoke d potential (SSEP) monitoring has been reported in a wide variety of s urgical procedures, mostly in adult patients. Reported experience has been limited in children. Children can present a number of unique prob lems that must be recognized and for which techniques must be adapted. This article presents the intraoperative SSEP experience at the Child ren's Hospital in Boston from 1989 to 1991. The technical difficulties we have encountered commonly in young children are discussed, along w ith suggestions in technical adjustments. As in adults, we have found intraoperative monitoring helpful in assessing physiological integrity of the spinal cord in children.