Comparability of Narcotrend index and bispectral index during propofol anaesthesia

Background. The dimensionless Narcotrend^TM (NCT) index (MonitorTechnik,Germany, version 4.0), from 100 (awake) to 0, is a new indexbased on electroencephalogram pattern recognition. Transferringguidelines for titrating the Bispectral Index^TM (BIS, AspectMedical Systems, USA, version XP) to the NCT index depends ontheir comparability. We compared the relationship between BISand NCT values during propofol anaesthesia. Methods. Eighteen adult patients about to have radical prostatectomywere investigated. An epidural catheter was placed in the lumbarspace and electrodes for BIS and NCT were applied as recommendedby the manufacturers. After i.v. fentanyl 0.1 mg, anaesthesiawas induced with a propofol infusion. After intubation, patientsreceived bupivacaine 0.5% 15 ml via the epidural catheter. Forty-fiveminutes after induction, the propofol concentration was increasedto substantial burst suppression pattern and then decreased.This was done twice in each patient, and BIS and Narcotrendvalues were recorded at intervals of 5 s. The efficacy of NCTand BIS in predicting consciousness vs unconsciousness was evaluatedusing the prediction probability (P_K). Results. We collected 38 629 artefact-free data pairs of BISand NCT values from the respective 5-s epochs. Because of artefacts,another 5008 epochs had been excluded from data analysis (3855epochs for the NCT index alone, 245 epochs for the BIS aloneand 908 epochs for both indices). Mean (SD) values in awakepatients were 94 (6) for Narcotrend and 91 (8) for BIS. Withloss of the eyelash reflex, both values were significantly reduced,to 72 (9) for NCT (P<0.001) and to 77 (11) for the BIS index(P<0.001). The P_K value for loss of eyelash reflex was similarfor BIS (0.95) and NCT (0.93). Decreasing BIS values coincidedwith decreasing NCT values. A sigmoid model [NCT index=52.8+26.8/(1+exp(–(BIS–78.3)/4.8))^0.4;r=0.52] described the correlation between BIS and NCT indexin a BIS range between 100 and 50. For BIS values lower than50, a second sigmoid model with a correlation of r=0.83 wasapplied [NCT index=6.6+45.3/(1+exp(–(BIS–29.8)/2.4))^0.6 r=0.83]. The relationship between burst suppression ratio(BSR) and NCT index was best described by the following sigmoidmodel: NCT index=265/(1+exp((–BSR+108)/–49); r=0.73. Conclusions. We found a sufficient correlation between BIS andNCT index, but deviations from the line of identity in someranges require attention. Therefore, a simple 1:1 transfer fromBIS to NCT values is not adequate. Our results might serve asa blueprint for the rational translation of BIS into NCT values.