Effects of hypothermia on median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials during spontaneous circulation.

Perioperative-induced hypothermia is a common means of reducing ischemic injury in neurosurgical procedures and cardiac surgery, and it may occur accidentally. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) are used frequently for neurophysiologic monitoring of these procedures. The effects of hypothermia on SSEPs have been studied widely in humans with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during nonpulsatile flow.