SSEP Test Results: What They Mean and Next Steps

An SSEP test is one of the toughest nerve function tests to perform on patients. However, it can provide clearer information when other options do not get you what you need.

For example, they are especially good when it comes to diagnosing MS, with studies showing that more than 80% of MS patients display abnormal SSEP results.

These tests are also good at detecting a wide variety of other issues, such as:

 

If you seek a diagnosis, the guide below will explain how the SSEP test interpretation process should proceed and help you plan practical next steps alongside your healthcare contact. Together, you and them can ensure your post-SSEP recommendations result in the best outcome for you.

Decoding an SSEP Results Analysis

SSEP tests can help a healthcare specialist evaluate the health of your nerves by detecting and presenting the speed and strength of electrical signals through your sensory nerves as they carry messages around your body. These results will often come in the form of “Latency,” which is the period of delay the signals experience, and “Amplitude,” which is the signal strength of the nerves’ messages. 

A high latency suggests that your nerves are struggling to get messages where they want to go fast enough, and a low amplitude can often point to weak feedback from your nerves, making it harder to respond to external stimuli.

Slow Signals

A delay of 10% or more in the speed at which nerves communicate signals across your body is considered a significant sign of abnormality. It may indicate several disruptions, including demyelination or other neural conduction problems. It may also be a simple concussion, but it is crucial to check for other possibilities.

With multiple results, they can help track the progress of a disease, showing how much it has affected you and helping clinicians to fine-tune treatment plans long-term.

Reduced Amplitude

Many professionals consider over 50% reductions in amplitude to be a significant change and will often lead to you requiring urgent attention to prevent the issue from escalating. It tends to be a significant sign that something more major is happening in your body, helping you to seek additional diagnoses.

Diagnosing Diseases Using SSEP

When other diagnostic tools, such as imaging, are inconclusive, doctors may leverage SSEP instead. As Practical Neurology describes, it is incredibly beneficial “when imaging is inconclusive.” The existence of this diagnostic tool can also boost the possibilities of early diagnosis, improving treatment outcomes for other neurological disorders, such as dementia.

Diagnosis includes cross-referencing the data sourced from SSEP with other diagnostic tools for a comprehensive assessment. However, doctors often leverage SSEP when other diagnosis methods fail, so it is best to use it alongside taking other steps.

The real-time feedback the tool offers also means it has seen significant use in surgeries, acting as a potent method of avoiding nerve damage during surgery.

On the other hand, it can display clear results regarding a wide array of nerve-based issues. In a study of patients with early MS, for example, the neurodiagnostic procedures resulted in the following discoveries:

 

There may be many reasons for these specific injuries, but the data does allow for more focused follow-up research.

As such, no matter what data arrives from your SSEP tests, you should expect the specialists to consider your health using the full range of knowledge they have gathered.

Your Next Steps After Reading the Results of an SSEP Test

After you receive the results of your SSEP, try not to make too many judgments based on your early dataset. You may not have the full extent of information that the clinician wished to test you for. There may be exceptions for every quantitative output on a diagnostic sheet, so do not jump to conclusions.

Instead, schedule a consultation with your neurologist to discuss your findings and learn whether you should be seeking out further follow-up tests, such as:

 

Treatment Plans

After diagnosing your issue, the specialist can discuss the possibility of treatments or therapies tailored to your specific SSEP insights. By sharing further details of your issues with them, they can leverage your results to give them a much clearer context of your results and thus be able to focus their therapies much better.

These therapies will not be a one-time event. Doctors will request them to regularly monitor your nerve function over time to attempt to stem the decay of your nerve function and, if possible, reverse it. You will then receive information on both on-location therapies and possible steps to help while at home.

Locations like Neurocare of Nevada are uniquely prepared in this area. We can offer personalized care and a strong understanding of what it means to start seeking nerve therapy. We can both help to build your care plan and guide you through it step by step.

We can even give you as much information as you think you need. Whether you need a basic rundown of what to expect from your SSEP results, we can give you only what you need. On the other hand, if you want a comprehensive education on what these results mean and what you can do to ensure they do not get worse, we have the patience and duty to ensure those who come to us leave well-informed.

Take the Next Step Toward Better Neurological and Nerve Health

An SSEP test offers you and your doctor key insights into your nerve health and their current level of function. They help your healthcare providers with the information they need to diagnose and manage any nerve conditions you may have, no matter how complex. As such, their results may appear complicated, but a specialist from a location like Neurocare of Nevada can help you out.

We offer cutting-edge diagnostic methods and state-of-the-art tools to ensure our patient-focused approach pays off in Las Vegas. So, contact us to book a consultation and make sure your neurological health remains a priority.