Clinical usefulness of electrically elicited pain-related evoked potentials

In 14 patients with sensory disturbance, the clinical usefulness of electrical pain-related evoked potentials (EPREPs) were studied. In four patients with deep sensation disturbance, conventional somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were abnormal. However, EPREPs were abnormal only in one of the patients. In nine patients with pain-temperature sensation disturbance, SEPs were normal except for only one patient and EPREPs were abnormal in seven of the nine patients. In a patient with herpes zoster myelitis, EPREPs elicited by electrical stimulation below the disturbed spinal level were delayed. After symptomatic improvement, EPREPs recovered. EPREPs are useful in the clinical field.