Bringing EEG Back to the Future: Use of cEEG in Neurocritical Care

Abstract

. 2018. doi: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006689 Objective: To characterize continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) use patterns in the critically ill and to determine the association with hospitalization outcomes for specific diagnoses. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study with National Inpatient Sample data from 2004 to 2013. We sampled hospitalized adult patients who received intensive care and then compared patients who underwent cEEG to those who did not. We considered diagnostic subgroups of seizure/status epilepticus, subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage, and altered consciousness. Outcomes were in-hospital mortality, hospitalization cost, and length of stay. RESULTS: < .001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a >10-fold increase in cEEG use from 2004 to 2013. However, this procedure may still be underused; cEEG was associated with lower in-hospital mortality but used for only 0.3% of the critically ill population. While administrative claims analysis supports the utility of cEEG for critically ill patients, our findings suggest variable benefit by diagnosis, and investigation with greater clinical detail is warranted.