CereOx
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cerebral desaturation and delirium in non-cardiac surgery – a pilot study
IRAS ID
245322
Contact name
Ben Creagh-Brown
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Surrey County Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
During surgery under general anaesthesia the anaesthetist routinely monitors a range of physiological variables including the oxygen saturation of arterial blood - usually through the use of a pulse oximeter. This provides information about how much oxygen is within the circulation.It is possible to monitor the oxygen saturation of the brain and although it is completely non-invasive, relatively inexpensive and simple, it is very rarely routinely performed. The technology is called near-infrared spectroscopy or NIRS and there are several manufacturers who produce this equipment.
Delirium can occur in up to 30% of patients after surgery and as well as being distressing for the patient and their relatives it is associated with worse outcomes. In some groups of patients the presence of low levels of oxygen in the brain has been associated with the incidence of postoperative delirium.
We would like to use this NIRS technology in a group of patients undergoing surgery at our institution. We will not have sufficient numbers of patients to definitively confirm or refute any association between low brain oxygen and the incidence of delirium. This is a pilot study that will inform the design of a larger study that will assess the utility of NIRS in preventing postoperative delirium.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1122
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jun 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion