Neurology
Sutter Auburn Faith Hosiptal (530) 888-4530

Our Services

Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital offers a variety of neurological service, including diagnostics, evaluation and treatment, in a local setting.

Our neurologists specialize in getting to the origin of a neurological disorder and working with our patients on a treatment plan for their unique needs. We treat a variety of neurological conditions, including:

• Botox Injections
• Cold Laser Treatments
• Deep Brain Stimulation Programming
• Epilepsy
• Headaches
• Intrathecal Baclofen Pump Trials
• Parkinson's Disease
• Small Fiber Peripheral Neuropathy Skin Biopsy
• Various Nerve Injections
• Vagus Nerve Stimulation Programming

Our Team

• Kristin D. Ashley, M.D.
• Neal J. Baumbach, M.D.
• Kanwardeep S. Grewal, M.D.

Diagnostics Testing

Neurodiagnostics is the general name given to a variety of procedures that test or monitor the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles. These procedures play vital roles in the diagnosis and management of seizures, brain hemorrhage, stroke, head trauma, brain surgery, spinal injuries, neonatal brain problems and neuromuscular causes of paralysis and sensory loss.

Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital offers several neurodiagnostic procedures including electroencephalagrams (EEGs), Evoked Potentials, and Ambulatory EEG.

Electroencephalgram (EEG) records the electrical activity generated by the nerve cells of the brain. This procedure assists physicians in the diagnosis of a variety of neurological problems, from common headaches and dizziness to seizure disorders, strokes and degenerative brain disease. We provide several EEG procedures.

• A standard EEG can be performed as an inpatient or outpatient procedure and takes
  approximately 90 minutes.
• An ambulatory EEG can be performed as an inpatient or outpatient procedure and is ordered in periods of 24-hours. Ambulatory EEGs are typically recorded for 24-72 hours.
• A 24 hour digital video EEG is performed as an inpatient procedure only.

Evoked Potentials use EEG signals that are computer-processed to assess the connection between a peripheral nerve pathway to the brain. Evoked Potentials provide the ability to demonstrate abnormal sensory system functions when the history and/or neurological examination are unclear, to reveal the presence of a clinically unsuspected malfunction in a sensory system when demyelinating disease is suspected, to help define the anatomic distribution of a disease process, and to monitor objective changes in a patient’s status. We provide a variety of Evoked Potentialprocedures.

• A Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) records the pathway of the optic nerve to the visual cortex. This helps diagnose degenerative diseases, optic neuropathies and tumors or lesions along the visual pathway. If the patient wears glasses, please ask them to bring glasses or wear their contacts. VEP’s take 60-90 minutes.
• A Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) records the pathway from the external auditory canal to the auditory cortex. This test helps to diagnose degenerative diseases, intrinsic brainstem lesions or lesions along the eighth cranial nerve. BAER’s take approximately 90 minutes.
• A Somatosensory Evoked Potential (SEP) is a test that electrically stimulates the nerves in the arms and or legs and records along the nerve pathway from the point of stimulation to the cerebral cortex. The results can help identify cervical root trauma, radiculopathies as well as localize damage along the spinal cord. Upper extremity SEP’s take 90 minutes and lower extremity SEP’s take 2 hours.

Patient Instructions for EEG’s

The EEG is a non-invasive, painless study. The procedure will take approximately an hour and a half. Please have the patient come to the office with clean, dry hair. A modified sleep deprivation is recommended for all patients. Have the patient go to bed two hours later than normal and wake up two hours earlier than normal. They should eat a good, high carbohydrate meal (i.e. pancakes, waffles and potatoes for breakfast or pasta, rice or a sandwich for lunch). If your patient is diabetic, have them eat a filling meal that falls within their dietary restrictions. Caffeine and tobacco should be eliminated 4-6 hours prior to testing.

For all studies, patients should continue taking all medications unless you specifically state otherwise.