Spectral entropy measurement of patient responsiveness during propofol and remifentanil. A comparison with the bispectral index

Background. We compared two spectral entropies, state entropy(SE) and response entropy (RE), based on the irregularity ofthe EEG, to measure loss of response to verbal command (LOR_verbal)and noxious stimulus (LOR_noxious) with the bispectral index(BIS) during propofol infusion with and without remifentanil. Methods. Three groups of 20 patients received an effect-sitecontrolled propofol infusion (Ce_PROP) starting at 1 µgml^–1 and increased in steps of 0.5 µg ml^–1at 4 min intervals. In addition, a remifentanil infusion wasmaintained at a group-dependent, fixed effect-site target concentration(Ce_REMI) (0, 2 or 4 ng ml^–1). The ability of BIS, SE orRE to predict LOR_verbal and LOR_noxious were compared with thechanges in BIS, SE and RE using logistic regression, predictionprobability (P_K), and sensitivity/specificity. Results. In all groups, BIS, SE and RE decreased with increasingCe_PROP. However, BIS decreased more smoothly than SE and REat deeper levels of sedation. At LOR_verbal, BIS₅₀, SE₅₀ andRE₅₀ increased with increasing Ce_REMI. BIS, SE and RE all detectedLOR_verbal accurately but BIS performed better at 100% sensitivity.Sensitivity/specificity for detection of LOR_verbal decreasedfor all methods with increasing Ce_REMI. LOR_noxious was poorlydescribed by all measures. Conclusion. LOR_verbal was detected accurately by BIS, SE andRE except for 100% sensitivity, where BIS performed better.Though BIS, SE and RE were influenced by remifentanil duringpropofol administration, their ability to detect LOR_verbal remainedaccurate. None of the measures predicted LOR_noxious.