title: Use of continuous bispectral EEG monitoring to assess depth of sedation in ICU patients.
abstract: Monitoring the depth of sedation in patients under intensive care is difficult. Clinical assessment by the different scoring systems produces insufficient information, especially once deeply sedated patients become unresponsive to any external stimulation. Recently, the bispectral index (BIS), the result of computerized bispectral electroencephalographic monitoring, was found to be the best predictor of depth of anaesthesia during surgical intervention. This report concerns BIS monitoring in 18 randomly selected, deeply sedated, surgical patients in the intensive care unit, who were unresponsive to standard clinical stimulation (Ramsay sedation score). A wide range of BIS was observed, with 15 of the patients having a BIS below 60, indicating a state of deep sedation (or possibly over-sedation). Therefore, further studies using BIS monitoring in patients under intensive care are needed to determine if this method can guide sedation and prevent oversedation in this context and, most importantly, to analyse its final cost-benefit ratio.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Eastern Limburg General Hospital, Genk, Belgium.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Deyne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Struys
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Decruyenaere
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Creupelandt
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoste
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colardyn
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D016292:Procedural Sedation / Q000145:classification*; D016638:Critical Illness; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008874:Midazolam; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D009020:Morphine; D009102:Multiple Organ Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D009020:Morphine; D008874:Midazolam