[Intraoperative electroneurophysiological monitoring of basal cranial nerve surgery]

Since 1980 when intraoperative monitoring was introduced or acoustic nerve surgery, the technique rapidly was outspreaded to the other basal cranial nerves, and today is the most important and indispensable piece of work first of all because of its effectiveness in the prevention of the neurologic deficits.

The aim of this work is to describe the basic requisites needed (personnel, equipment, stimulation and recording electrodes, patient handling), as well as to review the different techniques used (electromyography and electroneurography) in the motor cranial nerve monitorization (facial, motor trigeminal, extraocular muscles, glossopharyngeal, vagus, spinal accessory and hypoglossal) and the sensitive cranial nerves (optic, sensitive trigeminal, and acoustic) especially with evoked potentials. Finally, we pointed out the non-neurologic structures monitoring during the surgery of the posterior fossa.