Intra-operative awakening to monitor spinal cord function during scoliosis surgery. Description of the technique and report of four cases
Dorgan, J.C.; Abbott, T.R.; Bentley, G.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume 66(5): 716-719
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-620X PMID: 6501367 Document Number: 226385
We used a modification of the wake-up test to monitor spinal cord function in 102 consecutive scoliotic patients undergoing Harrington instrumentation. Four patients were found to have a neural deficit when they were awakened during the operation. Three recovered immediately after partial release of the distracting force; one required immediate removal of the rod and was left with a slight neural deficit. Using our method, we have encountered no problem in performing the wake-up test, although attention is drawn to the difficulty in repeating the test if the patient is re-anaesthetised with diazepam. There were no false negative results in this series.