The Effect of Ketamine on the WAVCNS Index During General Anesthesia: A Feasibility Study
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-04-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Monitoring the brain using electroencephalography (EEG) during general anesthesia provides
the anesthesiologist with valuable feedback of how deeply anesthetized their patient is,
reducing the chances of under- or overdosing and potentially improving patient outcomes.
However, commercial EEG monitors that output processed EEG (pEEG) were developed under
carefully controlled, simple anesthetic regimes - in contrast to the multimodal "cocktail" of
drugs often used in clinical practice. Ketamine is one potential adjunct to a standard
anesthetic, which has a growing body of evidence suggesting that it may improve
post-operative outcomes. The effects of ketamine on pEEG parameters are poorly understood.
This randomized, open-label, feasibility study will be undertaken in a sample of 30 adult
outpatient surgery patients. The primary objective is to observe the intra-operative raw and
pEEG trends using the NeuroSENSE monitoring system in patients receiving one of two different
analgesic doses of ketamine, compared to patients not receiving ketamine, during an otherwise
comparable general anesthetic. Secondarily, we will consider other clinical data of interest
from both intra- and post-operative contexts in order to establish a broader understanding of
the potential influence of two analgesic ketamine doses on anesthetic depth and
post-operative outcomes. Feasibility outcomes will be assessed with the ultimate goal of
developing a larger-scale clinical trial.