Evoked potential monitoring in anaesthesia and analgesia

Electrophysiological monitoring of selected neural pathways of the brain, b rainstem, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system has become mandatory in some surgery of the nervous system where preventable neural injury can occ ur. Evoked potentials are relatively simple methods of testing the integrit y of various aspects of the nervous system. This review covers the variety of evoked potentials that can be monitored and outlines the principles of t heir measurement. Their use in specific situations and how factors such as anaesthesia might affect them is presented.