Unanticipated Disturbance in Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in a Patient in Park-Bench Position

Perioperative neuropathy is a known complication of malpositioning during anaesthesia. Somatosensory evoked potentials are used for detecting such a complication in selected surgeries. Most reports of intraoperative nerve injuries due to malpositioning are limited to injuries to the peripheral nervous system, and there have been no previously reported cases of somatosensory evoked potential monitoring disturbance attributable to position-related cerebral ischemia in the park-bench position. We present the case of a patient with glioblastoma in the park-bench position whose somatosensory evoked potential waveforms disappeared after head and neck repositioning. A prompt diagnosis of this complication and elimination of the underlying cause led to the return of somatosensory evoked potential waveforms, and there was no relevant neurologic deficit at the end of the surgery.