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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Somatosensory evoked potentials after posterior tibial nerve stimulation — normative data in children

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We report normative data of somatosensory evoked potentials to posterior tibial nerve stimulation from 47 children 4–15 years of age. We recorded near-field potentials from the peripheral nerve, the cauda equina, the lumbar spinal cord and the somatosensory cortex. Far-field potentials were recorded from the scalp electrodes with a reference at Erb's point and on the earlobe. The near-field potentials N8 (peripheral nerve) and P40 (cortex) were present in all children. N20 (near-field from the cauda equina) was recorded in 38 subjects. N22 (near-field from the lumbar spinal cord), P30 and N37 ( both farfield waveforms probably generated in the brainstem) were recorded in 46 subjects each. The latencies and the peripheral conduction time (N8–N22) increased with age, while the central conduction time (N22-P40) and the intracranial conduction time (P30–P40) both decreased with age (up to about 10 years of age). The spinal conduction time (N22-P30) was relatively independent of age. The interpeak latencies allow the assessment of specific portions of this pathway. The subcortical posterior tibial nerve-somatosensory evoked potentials are of particular interest in children when the cortical peaks are influenced by sedation and sleep, or by anaesthesia.