Peripheral and spinal SEPs in the extraoperative evaluation of non-penetrating brachial plexus injuries.

Peripheral (N9) and cervical (N13) SEPs as recorded at Erb's point and over the fifth cervical spinous process respectively, from the musculocutaneous, median and ulnar nerve stimulation, were examined in 30 cases of unilateral non-penetrating brachial plexus injuries. Among 14 cases (42 nerves examined) who underwent surgical exploration, the SEPs were found to give good prediction of the actual lesions in 9 cases, gave helpful information in 1 and correlated partially in the other 4. In none of the cases did SEPs give totally misleading data. The results indicated that this SEPs testing package was simple, convenient and could be a useful adjunct to the conventional electrodiagnosis in the evaluation of non-penetrating brachial plexus injuries.