Electrophysiological Responses in the Human S3 Nerve During Sacral Neuromodulation for Fecal Incontinence

Intra-operative electrode placement for sacral neuromodulation (SNM) relies on visual observation of motor contractions alone, lacking complete information on neural activation from stimulation. This study aimed to determine whether electrophysiological responses can be recorded directly from the S3 sacral nerve during therapeutic SNM in patients with fecal incontinence, and to characterize such responses in order to better understand the mechanism of action (MOA) and whether stimulation is subject to changes in posture. Eleven patients undergoing SNM were prospectively recruited. A bespoke stimulating and recording system was connected (both intraoperatively and postoperatively) to externalized SNM leads, and electrophysiological responses to monopolar current sweeps on each electrode were recorded and analyzed. The nature and thresholds of muscle contractions (intraoperatively) and patient-reported stimulation perception were recorded. We identified both neural responses (evoked compound action potentials) as well as myoelectric responses (far-field potentials from muscle activation). We identified large myelinated fibers (conduction velocity: 36–60 m/s) in 5/11 patients, correlating with patient-reported stimulation perception, and smaller myelinated fibers (conduction velocity