Somato-sensory evoked potentials in facial pain diagnosis

This study analyses the possibilities of somato-sensory evoked potentials following trigeminal stimulation in order to classify pain sensations provoked by the trigeminal nerve. 43 patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, atypical facial pain and from pain due to carcinoma were investigated. Pain sensations correlated with the responses of the evoked potentials--usually with increased latencies. However, it was not possible to point out specific correlative pathological peaks for individual diseases. Therefore, the judgement of TSEP alterations requires knowledge of each patient's clinical symptoms.