Somatosensory evoked potential testing in infants and children.

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) provide the means to assess noninvasively the peripheral and central nervous system in infants and young children. As experienced clinicians know, this is the very system most difficult to adequately evaluate in young children. Physical examination is difficult. SSEPs provide information about function of somatosensory systems not otherwise available. In addition to pathologic states, maturation and sleep produce changes in SSEPs that require careful analysis.