Correlation of motor-evoked potentials, somatosensory-evoked potentials, and the wake-up test in a case of kyphoscoliosis.

The ability to monitor the descending motor pathways of the spinal cord during surgery is an important goal in neurophysiologic monitoring of spinal deformities. This report describes a case of a severe spinal deformity for which instrumentation and reduction carried a significant risk of neurologic complications. During the procedure, changes in neurologic status were monitored simultaneously using both SSEPs and tcMMEPs. The reliability of these two complimentary modalities was then verified by concurrent wake-up tests. This case provides documentation of the reliability of tcMMEP responses when an accurate assessment of motor function was necessary.