Intraoperative Neuromonitoring: Fundamentals, Possibilities, Limitations

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has gained increasing interest during the past decades and is now an integral part of various surgical disciplines, especially in neurosurgery, but also in otolaryngology, orthopedics, vascular surgery and general surgery. With expanding applications and evolving techniques, the monitoring team is faced with increasingly complex tasks and responsibilities. Despite its importance and significance in modern surgical medicine and the expectations associated with it, IONM is still not a regular part of the training program of medical professionals. Although knowledge on monitoring is imparted in basic courses offered by a few professional societies, systematic training of medical and non-medical staff according to a standardized curriculum is still lacking.This book aims to contribute to closing this gap. It provides a practical guide to help medical, nursing, and technical personnel get familiar with intraoperative neuromonitoring. The basic tenor is to combine theoretical and practical knowledge and thus to systematically convey essential skills about fundamentals, possibilities, but also limitations of IONM to a broad circle of readers. In order to achieve this goal, the text has been reduced to the absolutely necessary length in favor of numerous illustrations and tables.