title: BIS monitoring: awareness and catastrophic events.
abstract: The bispectral index is an electroencephalogram-based monitoring tool to help anesthesiologists determine depth of anesthesia. The bispectral index indicates both the potential for awareness and of relative hypnotic overdose, but it does not predict movement or hemodynamic responses to stimulation, and it cannot predict the exact moment consciousness returns. The bispectral index has been assessed for its relationship to awareness, and bispectral index monitoring appears to be generally associated with a low incidence of awareness. The bispectral index has also has been noted to detect periods of cerebral ischemia. It is also being used in intensive care units to help quantify the level of sedation in patients and as an outcome predictor in patients with brain injuries. Low values of the bispectral index often occur during catastrophic, ischemic, events but the use of this technology for the routine monitoring of such events is unproven.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA.
authors.forename: Naureen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Sebel
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D001364:Awareness; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D003422:Critical Care; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative