Effect of intrathecal bupivacaine on somatosensory evoked potentials following dermatomal stimulation.

The effect of spinal anesthesia with 3.6 +/- 0.1 ml (mean +/- SEM) of 0.5% bupivacaine on early (less than 150 msec) somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) with electrical stimulation of the L1 and S1 dermatomes was examined in 12 patients. The mean level of sensory analgesia (pinprick) was T8,9 +/- 1.0 (+/- SEM) and the mean degree of motor blockade was 1.3 +/- 0.1 (Bromage scale). Intrathecal bupivacaine significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased the amplitude of all SEP components after stimulation of the L1 dermatome and most components during stimulation of the S1 dermatome. Intrathecal bupivacaine also increased the latency of SEPs (P less than 0.05) of both dermatomes. The L1 SEP disappeared in 7 and the S1 SEPs in 5 of the 12 patients during neural blockade. In three patients the SEPs disappeared at both locations. Sensory thresholds increased significantly during blockade. We found no correlation between decrease of amplitude and degree of motor blockade or level of sensory analgesia. Thus, intrathecal plain bupivacaine has a strong depressant effect on the neural afferent transmission as assessed by SEPs. However, despite clinically effective blockade as assessed by pinprick and motor blockade nerve potentials after nociceptive stimulation within the area of sensory block were often able to pass to the cerebral cortex.