Abstract:Objective To analyze the predictive value of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) for patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).Methods Published literatures written in English between January 1980 and April 2012 were serached in MEDLINE, EMBASE, OVID, and the Cochrane Library for Meta-analysis. The predictive value is compared to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS).Results Eleven studies meeting the inclusion criteria are involved for Meta analysis. Six studies compare the predictive value of SEP to that of GCS. The sensitivity of SEP for good outcome is 0.69(95%CI,0.63-0~74), specificity 0.73(95%CI,0.68~ 0.78), positive likelihood ratio(LR+) 2.71(95%CI,1.77~4.15). The sensitivity of SEP for poor outcome is 0.58(95%CI,0.50~0.66), specificity 0.82(95%CI,0.77~0.86), positive likelihood ratio (LR+) 3.61(95%CI,2.38~5.47). The specificity of SEP for either good or poor outcome is higher than GCS;the sensitivity of SEP for good outcome is equivalent to GCS, but the sensitivity for good outcome is not as good as GCS.Conclusions SEP has good predictive value for patients with severe TBI