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*Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas; and
Department of Anesthesiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Paul F. White, Professor and McDermott Chair of Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., F2.208A, Dallas, TX 75390-9068. Address e-mail to paul.white{at}utsouthwestern.edu.
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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The most recently introduced cerebral monitor is the M-entropy module (Datex-Ohmeda S/5 EntropyTM Module, Instrumentarium Corp, Helsinki, Finland). In contrast to the other EEG-based monitoring systems that combine several disparate descriptors of the EEG into a single value, the Entropy module quantifies the regularity of the EEG signal and generates both a state entropy (SE) and a response entropy (RE) value (18). Whereas approximate, and Shannon's entropy values are calculated in the time domain, the SE and RE values are based on both time- and frequency-balanced spectral entropy. Preliminary clinical studies with the Entropy module suggest that the regularity of the EEG increases with increasing concentrations of both IV (e.g., propofol) (1921) and volatile (e.g., desflurane and sevoflurane) (22,23) anesthetics. Using logistic regression to compare the power of the BIS and entropy in distinguishing awake from hypnotic (asleep) states, the BIS was alleged to display a higher predictive power (24). However, during the maintenance and recovery periods, the BIS was alleged to be less reliable than entropy because of suppression ratio artifacts (25). It has also been suggested that approximate entropy is more sensitive than the BIS in detecting deepening of anesthesia with propofol (26). Therefore, it is possible that there will be differences between the two cerebral monitors with respect to both inter-patient and inter-anesthetic variations.
We hypothesized that the use of the Entropy module would be less susceptible to intraoperative interference with the displayed index values during operation of the electrosurgical unit than the BIS monitor. A secondary objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of the entropy and BIS values with respect to predicting loss of consciousness and emergence from a standardized general anesthetic technique.
| Methods |
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All patients received midazolam 2 mg IV for premedication in the preoperative holding area. Both the BIS XPTM sensor (10 k
impedance limit) and Entropy sensor (7.5 k
impedance limit) strips were simultaneously applied to the patient's forehead on arrival in the operating room. If the electrode impedance is above 7.5 k
for the entropy or 10 k
for the BIS, the devices will not provide initial (baseline) index values. The sigma quality index (SQI) values (for the BIS monitor) and the skin impedance values (for the entropy monitor) were inspected at 10-min intervals during the procedure to ensure adequate EEG signal quality. The time required to obtain baseline (awake) BIS, SE, and RE values was recorded. The moving average windows used to calculate the entropy values are 215 s and 1560 s for the RE (3247 Hz) and SE (<32 Hz) values, respectively, compared with a fixed 15-s interval for the BIS value. Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2.0 mg/kg IV, and fentanyl 1 µg/kg IV was injected for 1530 s. Cisatracurium 0.3 mg/kg IV was administered to facilitate tracheal intubation, followed by desflurane 4% (initial inspired concentration) in combination with nitrous oxide (N2O) 60% in oxygen for maintenance of anesthesia. Intermittent bolus doses of cisatracurium (0.05 mg/kg IV) were administered to minimize electromyographic interference with the EEG signal acquisition.
If the patient displayed autonomic signs consistent with inadequate anesthesia (e.g., increased heart rate, diaphoresis, or lacrimation), supplemental doses of propofol 20 mg IV were administered during the maintenance period. The inspired desflurane concentration was increased by 2% if the patient manifested a sustained (
5 min) increase in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP)
20% of the preincision baseline value. In response to clinical signs of excessive anesthetic effect (e.g., a decrease in MAP
20% of the preincision value), the inspired concentration of desflurane was decreased by 2%. At the end of surgery, the inhaled anesthetics were discontinued, and residual neuromuscular blockade was reversed with neostigmine 0.05 mg/kg IV and glycopyrrolate 0.01 mg/kg IV.
The MAP, heart rate, BIS, SE, and RE values were recorded at 1-min intervals during the induction and emergence periods, as well as immediately before and up to 5 min after a 20-mg IV bolus of propofol or a 2% change in the inspired concentration of desflurane during the maintenance period. Three investigators were simultaneously involved in the conduct of the study. The staff anesthesiologist (RHW, RN, AS, or RK) was responsible for administering the anesthetic drugs and for monitoring the clinical depth of anesthesia. Both the BIS and Entropy monitor screens were positioned out of the anesthesiologist's line of sight, and the second investigator (GFR) recorded data at specific time intervals throughout the perioperative period. The incidence of electrocautery interference with the BIS, RE, and SE reading was determined by whether a displayed BIS, RE, or SE value was present or absent each time the electrocautery unit was activated during the operation. The third investigator (JT) was responsible for recording the recovery times and analyzing these data.
Data regarding the patient's state of consciousness (e.g., ability to follow verbal commands to open their eyes, squeeze the investigator's hand, and oriented to person, place, and time) were obtained at 15- to 30-s intervals from the start of the injection of the induction dose of propofol until loss of responsiveness to verbal commands and from discontinuation of the inhaled anesthetics until the patient was awake (i.e., eye opening) and oriented to person and place. At a 24 h follow-up interview, patients were asked if they had recall of any events during the operation.
One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze normally distributed continuous variables, and when a significant difference was noted, the Newman-Keuls test was performed for post hoc comparisons among the three indices. Repeated-measures of analysis of variance with a post hoc Bonferroni correction was used to compare the changes in the specific BIS, RE, and SE values (versus baseline values). Categorical data were analyzed by the
2 test. The relationship among BIS, RE, and SE values during the induction and emergence periods was analyzed using linear regression to determine the correlation coefficients. Assessment of the nonlinear association among BIS, RE, and SE values and the probability of unconsciousness were accomplished using the logistic regression procedure, which estimated the probability of a binary "yes/no" response.
Using the NCSS 6.0 software program, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for each index was determined by plotting the sensitivity (fraction of unresponsive patients who were correctly predicted to be unconscious) against 1-specificity (fraction of responsive patients who were correctly predicted to be awake), and reflects the discriminating power of the indices. The area under the ROC curve summarizes the predictive power of the index to achieve a high specificity at any given sensitivity (27). An area >0.5 indicates that the measurement is predictive, and a measurement with 100% accuracy would have an area of 1.0. However, an area under the ROC of 0.5 has the same predictive value as a coin flip. All tests were two-sided, and a P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Data are presented as mean ± sd and percentages.
| Results |
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The BIS, RE, and SE values decreased progressively from preinduction (baseline) values of 96 ± 4, 96 ± 3, and 88 ± 2 to preincision values of 39 ± 11, 40 ± 13, and 38 ± 12, respectively (Table 1). A similar degree of inter-patient variability (±sd) was observed in the BIS, RE, and SE values. During the maintenance period, the SE values tended to be lower than the RE and BIS values (Fig. 1). However, the pattern of the changes in the RE, SE, and BIS values was similar after bolus doses of propofol and changes in the inspired concentration of desflurane (Table 2).
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Compared with the BIS monitor, the Entropy module experienced significantly less interference (i.e., artifact) during use of the electrosurgical unit (12% versus 62%, respectively). Although the indices were comparable during the induction period, the SE values were significantly less than the RE and BIS values during the emergence period. Nevertheless, the SE correlated with the RE and BIS values during both the induction (Fig. 2) and emergence (Fig. 3) periods. In addition, the BIS, RE, and SE values all increased significantly after reversal of residual neuromuscular blockade at the end of the operation (Table 3). During the interval from discontinuing the maintenance anesthetics until the patients were alert and oriented, the BIS, RE, and SE values increased from 47 ± 13, 46 ± 15, and 42 ± 13 to 93 ± 4, 95 ± 3, and 85 ± 5, respectively (Table 4).
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Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the BIS, RE, and SE were all significant predictors of unconsciousness (P < 0.01), with area under the ROC curve values of 0.97 ± 0.04, 0.98 ± 0.04, and 0.93 ± 0.04 for the BIS, RE, and SE, respectively (Fig. 4). Of interest, the BIS, RE, and SE values all correlated poorly with the end-tidal desflurane concentrations at eye opening (Fig. 5) and at tracheal extubation (Fig. 6).
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Finally, the time required to apply the electrode strip (9 ± 3 s) and obtain the baseline index values (4248 s) were not significantly different with the two monitoring systems (Table 5). In addition, the costs of the monitoring devices and their disposable units were comparable for both cerebral monitors.
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| Discussion |
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The induction of general anesthesia is usually accompanied by an increase in high-frequency EEG activity that spreads from the frontal region to more posterior regions of the brain, resulting in an increasing degree of sedation and eventually loss of consciousness (25). The BIS is capable of monitoring the level of consciousness during sedation (13,14) and general anesthesia (4,15,16). Importantly, the pattern of changes in the entropy and BIS values was similar during the induction, maintenance, and emergence periods in the current study. However, greater differences may be found between the two monitors when other classes of anesthetic drugs (e.g., etomidate, ketamine, N2O) are used during surgery (21,28).
A previous study demonstrated that the EEG effects of propofol were similarly quantified by both the BIS and Entropy monitors (26). However, the BIS was slower than Entropy in responding to the onset of burst suppression with increasing levels of propofol-induced hypnosis. The present comparative study demonstrated that both monitoring systems were capable of discriminating between the awake and anesthetized states. These cerebral monitors display greater index values before the induction of anesthesia (awake) and upon recovery of consciousness compared with the index values during the maintenance anesthetic period. The SE values were consistently lower than the BIS values after supplemental boluses of propofol or changes in the inspired desflurane concentration. As expected, the SE values were always less than the RE values because the maximum SE value is 91 (versus 100 for the RE and BIS values). Importantly, all three EEG-based indices returned to their preinduction baseline value upon reorientation of the patient to person and place. Therefore, there seems to be no difference between the two monitors with respect to their sensitivity to the residual (subhypnotic) effects of anesthetic drugs administered during the maintenance period.
Analogous to earlier clinical studies with the BIS, patient state analyzer, and auditory evoked potential monitors (512), these data suggest that the Entropy module will also prove to be useful in improving the titration of both IV and inhaled anesthetics. Recent studies involving anesthetized and paralyzed patients demonstrated that the anesthetic- or analgesic-sparing effect associated with cerebral monitoring can also contribute to reduced recovery times and an improved quality of recovery (11,12). However, there have been no published clinical utility studies involving the Entropy module.
The ability of the Entropy module to display SE and RE values during intraoperative use of the electrosurgical unit was superior to the BIS monitor. This observation is consistent with our earlier findings in comparative studies involving the BIS monitor and patient state analyzer (15,16). This difference might suggest that the Entropy module is less sensitive than the BIS monitor in detecting contamination of the EEG signal during use of the electrocautery unit. However, Bruhn et al. (30) reported that the entropy parameters were superior to EEG spectral edge frequency and
ratios with respect to robustness against artifacts. The areas under the ROC curves also suggest that the entropy indices have similar sensitivity and specificity to the BIS value with respect to anesthesia-induced changes in the level of consciousness. Moreover, the entropy indices demonstrated a good correlation with the BIS during the induction and emergence from general anesthesia. However, the importance of the correlation coefficients is limited because if the values range is small, the correlation may be low, although the agreement was very good. Finally, given the comparable costs of the two monitoring units and disposable electrode strips, these data would suggest that the Entropy module is a cost-equivalent alternative to the BIS monitor.
This observational study can be criticized because only a small group of patients undergoing one type of surgical procedure were studied using a highly standardized anesthetic technique. In contrast to the extensive clinical experience with the BIS monitor (4,7,8,1016), there is a more limited clinical database for the Entropy algorithm (17,1926). Further comparative studies involving the Entropy module are clearly required in patients undergoing more varied surgical procedures.
In conclusion, the changes in SE and RE values followed a similar pattern to the BIS values during the perioperative period. Analogous to the BIS, the entropy indices display a high degree of sensitivity and specificity in assessing consciousness during the induction of and emergence from anesthesia and were able to detect changes associated with administration of IV (propofol) and volatile (desflurane) anesthetics during the maintenance period. Finally, the Entropy module experienced less interference with the displayed indices during use of the electrocautery unit than the BIS monitor.
| Footnotes |
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Supported, in part, by an educational grant from GE/Datex/Ohmeda to the White Mountain Institute, a non-for-profit private educational and research foundation dedicated to art and medicine. Endowment funds from the Margaret Milam McDermott Distinguished Chair of Anesthesiology were used to support Dr. White's academic activities.
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