抄録
The importance of monitoring of spinal cord function in spinal surgery or neurosurgery has recently been emphasized. A decrease in spinal cord evoked potentials is considered to be a warning sign, but in upper cervical or medulla oblongata lesions, the typical means of spinal cord monitoring induces considerable disturbance to the operating procedure due to the presence of electrodes in the epidural space of the upper cervix. Measurement of motor potentials evoked by stimulating electrodes placed at the parietal and the hard palate showed very sensitive alterations consistent with surgical stress, and was thought to effectively monitor the cervical cord and medulla oblongata functions.
