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Role of Transcranial Motor Evoked Potential Monitoring During Traumatic Spinal Injury Surgery: A Prospective Multicenter Study of the Monitoring Committee of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research.

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STUDY DESIGN Prospective multicenter observational cohort study. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the role of transcranial motor evoked potential (TcMEP) monitoring during traumatic spinal injury surgery, the timing of… Click to show full abstract

STUDY DESIGN Prospective multicenter observational cohort study. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the role of transcranial motor evoked potential (TcMEP) monitoring during traumatic spinal injury surgery, the timing of TcMEP alerts, and intervention strategies to avoid intraoperative neurological complications. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Intraoperative neuromonitoring, including TcMEP monitoring, is commonly used in high-risk spinal surgery to predict intraoperative spinal cord injury; however, little information is available on its use in traumatic spinal injury surgery. METHODS The TcMEP monitoring data of 350 consecutive patients who underwent traumatic spinal injury surgery (mean age, 69.3 y) between 2017 and 2021 were prospectively reviewed. In this study, a TcMEP amplitude reduction ≥70% was established as a TcMEP alert. A rescue case was defined as a case with recovery of TcMEP amplitudes after certain procedures and without postoperative neurological complications. RESULTS Among the 350 patients who underwent traumatic spinal injury surgery (TcMEP derivation rate 94%), TcMEP monitoring revealed seven true-positive (TP) (2.0%), three rescue (0.9%; rescue rate 30%), 31 false-positive, one false-negative, and 287 true-negative cases, resulting in 88% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 18% positive predictive value, and 99% negative predictive value. The TP rate in patients with preoperative motor deficits (MDs) was 2.9%, which was higher than that in patients without preoperative MDs (1.1%). The most common timing of TcMEP alerts was during decompression (40%). During decompression, suspension of surgery with intravenous steroid injection was ineffective (rescue rate, 0%) and additional decompression was effective. CONCLUSION Given the low prevalence of neurological complications (2.3%) and the low positive predictive value (18.4%), single usage of TcMEP monitoring during traumatic spinal injury surgery is not recommended. Further efforts should be made to reduce FP alert rates through better interpretation of multimodal IONMs and the incorporation of anesthesiology in order to improve the positive predictive value. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III.

Keywords: surgery; traumatic spinal; injury surgery; spinal injury; injury; study

Journal Title: Spine
Year Published: 2023

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