Narcotrend in the ICU
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Narcotrend Depth of Anaesthesia Monitor as an Indicator of Seizures and Burst Suppression in the Intensive Care Unit
IRAS ID
285968
Contact name
Ziad Alrifai
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Electroencephalography (EEG)-based depth of anaesthesia monitors (BIS and Narcotrend) measure the electrical activity of the brain.
They are used alongside the doctor’s assessment to see the response to anaesthetic drugs given to patients.
Occasionally, patients are monitored who have epileptic seizures and in recent years there have been reports of the chance recording of epileptic seizures when these monitors have been in use.
The current gold standard of recording seizures in the intensive care unit at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust is by CFAM (Cerebral Function Analysing Monitor) with simultaneous video recording. This is performed by the Clinical Neurophysiology Department.
There has been a steady increase in demand for CFAM over recent years, but this is labour intensive, expensive and not available in every hospital.
The study aims to investigate whether the Narcotrend depth of anaesthesia monitor could be used to monitor for seizures and monitor patients to a deep level of sedation on the intensive care unit. These monitors are cheaper and more widely available with the scope to be used at every bed space if required.
The study will take place on the adult and children’s intensive care unit at NUH Trust.
The study will be a prospective, non-invasive, observational study.
Prospective, means that we will start to collect data once patients are enrolled into the study, rolling forwards in time.
Non-invasive means that the test will not break the skin or enter the body
Observational means that we will observe and record the information from the study.
Patients will continue to receive the standard monitoring of CFAM requested by the intensive care team and provided by Clinical Neurophysiology. The Narcotrend will be attached as an additional monitor so that both machines will record brain activity at the same time to allow comparison.REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0440
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion