To warn or not to warn: A reappraisal of brainstem auditory evoked potential warning criteria during surgery

Neurophysiologic intraoperative monitoring (NIOM) is widely used to reduce neurologic morbidity in many types of surgeries where nervous tissue is at risk. Somatosensory and motor evoked potentials (SEP, MEP) have been shown to reduce the risk of paraplegia in spinal surgeries (Nuwer et al., 2012). Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP), similarly, have been shown to reduce the risk of hearing loss in surgeries involving the manipulation of the vestibulocochlear nerve, brainstem or cerebellum (Radtke et al., 1989).

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