Diagnostic and prognostic significance of preoperative evoked potential tests in degenerative cervical myelopathy

•Surgical decisions for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) primarily depend on clinical symptoms and radiological examinations. Preoperative evoked potential testing is a functional diagnostic tool that can indicate the severity of myelopathic symptoms in patients with DCM. Additionally, preoperative tibial nerve-somatosensory evoked potential has significant prognostic value in predicting postoperative clinical outcomes. Thus, preoperative evoked potential tests are significantly helpful in determining suitable surgical treatment and forecasting postoperative prognosis. Decompression surgery is a treatment option for patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Surgical decisions primarily depend on clinical symptoms and radiological examinations. The diagnostic and prognostic significance of evoked potential tests for surgical outcomes in patients with DCM has not been thoroughly examined. To identify the diagnostic and prognostic significance of preoperative evoked potential tests in patients with DCM who underwent decompression surgery. This was a retrospective observational study. One hundred two consecutive patients who underwent evoked potential tests and surgical treatment between January 2016 and December 2020 in a single spine center and had a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores obtained preoperatively and 6 months after surgery. This study evaluated the preoperative central motor conduction time (CMCT), somatosensory evoked potentials, and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores obtained preoperatively and 6 months after surgery. Abnormal CMCT findings were observed in 94 patients (92.2%). Abnormal somatosensory evoked potentials were observed in 77 patients (75.5%). There was a statistically significant correlation between preoperative JOA score and abductor pollicis brevis (APB)-CMCT (r=−0.546, p=.001), tibialis anterior (TA)-CMCT (r=−0.517, p