The anesthetic considerations of intraoperative electrocorticography during epilepsy surgery

Epilepsy surgery is a well-established therapeutic intervention for patients with medically refractory seizures. Success of epilepsy surgery depends on the accurate localization and complete removal of the epileptogenic zone. Despite the advances in presurgical localization modalities, electrocorticography is still used in approximately 60% to 70% of the epilepsy centers in North America to guide surgical resection of the epileptogenic lesion and to assess for completeness of surgery. In this review, we discuss the principles and intraoperative use of electrocorticography, the effect of anesthetic drugs on electrocorticography, and the use of pharmacoactivation for intraoperative localization of epileptogenic zone.