Applications and Limitations of Neuro-Monitoring in Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intravenous Anaesthesia: A Narrative Review

Figures

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  Figure 1. Mechanism of action of the currently available EEG derived anaesthesia monitoring (in red). The sensor is placed on the forehead and records the electrical potentials produced in the cortex resulting in the raw EEG. The majority of the EEG-derived monitors work by disassembling a complex EEG waveform (the raw EEG), into many series of waves of different frequencies (Hertz—Hz). These, together with several of the EEG variables, are converted into a single index through mathematical algorithms by the processed EEG (p-EEG) devices. The obtained index represents the level of hypnosis. However, the index can also be affected by the Electromyography (EMG) and the Signal Quality Index (SQI or ARTF). The spectrogram, is a real time monitoring which portrays all the EEG frequencies and their power over the time in a three-dimensional method (3D spectrogram or Compressed Spectral Array). The latter is then integrated in a two-dimensional plot using colours to represent different powers in the Density Spectral Array (DSA). Derived additional parameters are the Spectral Edge Frequency (SEF95), Median Frequency and the Burst Count (burst/minute) Suppression Rate (SR), Burst Suppression Ratio…

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  Figure 2. Cerebral oxygen delivery and consumption balance and contributing factors to cerebral oxygen saturation during anaesthesia. HR, heart rate; BP, blood pressure; SatO2, oxygen saturation; CO2, carbon dioxide; T°, temperature; ScO2 cerebral oxygen saturation.