STANDARDS & GUIDELINES

UK Following a joint national audit and survey, the Association of Neurophysiological Scientists (ANS) and the British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology (BSCN) have created guidelines for Neurophysiological Recordings of the Spinal Cord during Corrective Spinal Deformity Surgery (revised 2018).  

"This document seeks to recommend guidelines which are evidence based, relevant to current and future practice, auditable and in a comprehensive form that is achievable. IONM should be carried out by competent medical and physiological staff trained in this speciality. This document is aimed to support people in their clinical practice and is not intended to exclude existing protocols and procedures in departments depending on local practice and resources. These guidelines are subject to change and will be regularly reviewed In all cases it is the responsibility of the operating spinal surgeon and team to establish the indication and appropriateness for IONM."

The current guidelines can be viewed as a pdf here. 

USA The American Society of Neurophysiological Monitoring (ASNM) have developed some guidelines and position statements that define both the technical and professional interpretive aspects of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. Their aim is to provide practitioners and institutions with living documents that will assist in making choices for optimizing patient care.

The latest position statements can be viewed here.