Abstract

Background: Intraoperative EEG suppression duration has been associated with postoperative delirium and mortality. In a clinical trial testing anaesthesia titration to avoid EEG suppression, the intervention did not decrease the incidence of postoperative delirium, but was associated with reduced 30-day mortality. The present study evaluated whether the EEG-guided anaesthesia intervention was also associated with reduced 1-yr mortality. Methods: This manuscript reports 1 yr follow-up of subjects from a single-centre RCT, including a post hoc secondary outcome (1-yr mortality) in addition to pre-specified secondary outcomes. The trial included subjects aged 60 yr or older undergoing surgery with general anaesthesia between January 2015 and May 2018. Patients were randomised to receive EEG-guided anaesthesia or usual care. The previously reported primary outcome was postoperative delirium. The outcome of the current study was all-cause 1-yr mortality. Results: Of the 1232 subjects enrolled, 614 subjects were randomised to EEG-guided anaesthesia and 618 subjects to usual care. One-year mortality was 57/591 (9.6%) in the guided group and 62/601 (10.3%) in the usual-care group. No significant difference in mortality was observed (adjusted absolute risk difference, –0.7%; 99.5% confidence interval, –5.8% to 4.3%; P=0.68). Conclusions: An EEG-guided anaesthesia intervention aiming to decrease duration of EEG suppression during surgery did not significantly decrease 1-yr mortality. These findings, in the context of other studies, do not provide supportive evidence for EEG-guided anaesthesia to prevent intermediate term postoperative death. Clinical trial registration: NCT02241655.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)386-395
Number of pages10
JournalBritish journal of anaesthesia
Volume127
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2021

Keywords

  • burst suppression
  • depth of anaesthesia
  • electroencephalogram suppression
  • postoperative death
  • postoperative delirium
  • postoperative falls
  • postoperative mortality
  • quality of life

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