As a group of clinicians, it could be argued that we anaesthetists have a penchant for number generating machines that don’t really add much to patient care. Central venous pressure, cardiac output monitoring (controversial), and Bispectral Index (BIS) readily spring to mind as the most popular ‘Random number generators’ we encounter. Now this is a bit of an extreme perspective, and I do personally feel that there can only really be a benefit to having extra information at hand - it’s just the interpretation of it all where caution is required. The literature is full of nuanced ways we can optimise patient outcomes through manipulating the stroke volume/stroke volume variation/central venous pressure etc. each with varying amounts and quality of supporting evidence. It therefore comes as quite a shock when you stumble across a paper that has the potential to be an immediate ‘gamechanger’, as is the case here. The paper is entitled ‘Response of bispectral index to neuromuscular blockade in awake volunteers’, and if you haven’t read it yet I thoroughly recommend checking it out through the link below (Open Access). The title of this post might have given you a little clue as to what they’ve found.
Response of bispectral index to neuromuscular blockade in awake volunteers - BJA
Response of bispectral index to neuromuscular blockade in awake volunteers - BJA
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