The value of somatosensory evoked potential testing for upper lumbar radiculopathy. A correlation of electrophysiologic and anatomic data.

Abstract

Patients with lumbar pain syndromes can present with a complex variety of complaints. Most clinicians focus on the lower lumbar nerve roots, but upper lumbar radicular syndromes can provide an especially difficult diagnostic challenge to the spine specialist requiring a multimodal approach to sort out diagnostic complexities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation of somatosensory evoked potential findings with documented spinal pathology demonstrated on morphologic studies, thereby determining whether somatosensory evoked potential testing has a place in spinal diagnosis. The results of this study demonstrated the correlation of somatosensory evoked potential findings with anatomic abnormalities noted on computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scans and discograms. Somatosensory evoked potential testing is recommended not as an isolated test, but as part of an electrophysiologic battery that would also include conventional electromyography.