COVID EEG [COVID-19]

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Observational pilot study to assess the depth of sedation and prevalence of iso electric EEG events in optimally ventilated COVID 19 subjects and the associated haemodynamic changes

• IRAS ID

  285988

• Contact name

  Joseph Carter

• Contact email

  joseph.carter@york.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  York Teaching Hospitals NHS foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 5 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Sadly in some patients with COVID 19 infection they require to be placed on a ventilator to support their oxygen levels as they have become dangerously low. A high number of these patients need to be paralysed with muscle relaxants to improve their oxygenation and hence need depth sedation so the are not aware.

  In the United Kingdom, for patients undergoing total intravenous anaesthesia with muscle relaxants, it is a standard of care that a depth of anaesthesia monitor is used to reduce the risk of patient awareness. It has been shown that the use of these monitors in the operating theatre setting can reduce the risk of awareness and potentially decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with un-necessarily deep anaesthesia. Amongst patients undergoing general anaesthesia, it is those in whom the muscle relaxants are used in who develop distressing awareness experiences.
  There is presently little evidence to guide the use of depth of anaesthesia monitors in the intensive care environment. Intensive care patients should have regular assessments of their sedation levels via scoring systems but these rely on clinical assessment and are not reliable in patients who have received muscle relaxants.

  As COVID 19 patients are frequently paralysed there is little objective information as to how adequately or not hey are sedated. We aim to place depth of anaesthesia monitors, which measure brain activity and give an indication of how awake or asleep patients are, on patients who are ventilated and paralysed with COVID 19. The data collected will be used to inform future studies by providing descriptive statistics to inform and power future studies looking to ensure that patients are appropriately sedated using depth of anaesthesia monitoring as part of an algorithm, aiming to reduce sedation related complications.

• REC name

  London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/HRA/5025

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Oct 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion