Evoked spinal cord potentials for diagnosis during brachial plexus surgery and report of two causalgia cases treated with epidural spinal cord stimulation

Evoked spinal cord potentials(ESCP) were used for intraoperative diagnosis in 44 cases of traumatic brachial plexus palsy, stimulating 95 spinal nerves during brachial plexus exploration. ESCP were recorded from the cervical epidural space and compared with myelographic findings. In the first 17 cases, ESCP were simultaneously recorded with somatosensory evoked potentials(SEP). in four nerves. ESCP but no SEP were recorded to be continuity from the nerve to the spinal cord. ESCP were obtained from two spinal nerves on the abnormal myelogram. Intraoperative electrodiagnosis with ESCP recordings can provide useful information on the lesion of traumatic brachial plexus palsy. With epidural spinal cord stimulation(Medtronic Pisces-Quad Model 3487A) at the cervical cord. two cases of severe pain with root avulsion were treated to be a good pain control.