Open AccessElectrophysiological Effects of Lumbar Dorsal Root Stimulation
Author(s) -
Joel B. Myklebust,
Dennis J. Maiman,
Sanford J. Larson,
Anthony Sances
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
neurosurgery/neurosurgery online
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.485
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1081-1281
pISSN - 0148-396X
DOI - 10.1227/00006123-198406000-00007
Subject(s) - stimulation , medicine , electrophysiology , lumbar , neuroscience , dorsum , peripheral , anesthesia , anatomy , biology
Electrical stimulation was applied to the L-5 and L-6 dorsal root ganglia of 14 monkeys with concurrent monitoring of cortical and intralaminar thalamic evoked potentials. Both responses were decreased by root stimulation, although cortical suppression required current levels 50 to 100% higher. The evoked potentials remained suppressed for periods of up to 60 minutes after 10- to 15-minute stimulation of the lumbar root electrodes. There was no increase in the duration of transmission block with longer stimulation periods. These results and available clinical data suggest that a local conduction block may be responsible for the pain relief produced by peripheral electrical stimulation. Further studies to identify more precisely the neural systems affected are required.