Evaluation of breast sensibility using dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials.

This study was undertaken to prospectively evaluate breast sensibility before and after reduction mammaplasty with a new, objective, and quantitative neurophysiologic method based on the anatomic knowledge of breast innervation and the congruent areas of dermatomal maps. An innovative application of dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials was used to study the breast regions of 42 healthy women, bilaterally. The areas stimulated in each breast were the superior quadrant, the nipple-areola complex and the medial and lateral quadrants, and the inferior quadrant; these areas correspond to T3, T4, and T5 dermatomes, respectively, following the accepted concepts of segmentary innervation of the skin.