Anesthesia Effectiveness Control Tool

2004/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

In one of every 1,000 interventions performed under general anesthesia, the patient has some awareness. It seems that you are sleeping, you cannot move, you cannot say anything, but you can feel what is happening. In many cases this experience causes intense, physical and above all psychological suffering.

To combat it they have developed a monitor called BIS that has already been tested in several locations. According to scientists, this system could reduce by 80% the number of patients who do not fully sleep or wake up. The functioning of the apparatus is similar to the electroencephalogram and measures brain activity using an electrode to know if the patient is actually asleep.

They still need to improve the monitor, but the scientists who have tested it claim that it should be used in all operations with the highest risk of awakening the patient. In fact, some interventions use lighter anesthesia than others.