The somatosensory evoked potential: Solutions to some technical problems

Somatosensory evoked potentials are becoming one of the major work products of the modern multimodality clinical neurophysiology laboratory, driven particularly by the demand for preoperative and operative monitoring. These studies, technically difficult to begin with, are further complicated by the needs and effects of the surgery and anesthesia. This article reviews the problems and artifacts that the technologist may encounter during clinical diagnostic, preoperative, and intraoperative evoked potential studies as well as some of the hazards unique to the intra-operative study.