Spinal cord injury level and Phrenic Nerve Conduction Studies do not predict diaphragm pacing success or failure- all patients should undergo diagnostic laparoscopy.

Background: Diaphragm Pacing(DP) demonstrates benefits over mechanical ventilation(MV) for spinal cord injured(SCI) patients. The hypothesis of this report is that phrenic nerve conduction study(PNCS) results cannot differentiate success or failure in selection of patients for DP. Direct surgical evaluation of the diaphragm should be performed.