Combining Objective and Subjective Sedation Assessment Tools - Second Study

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) who require a ventilator to help them breathe also require sedation in order to keep them comfortable and prevent injury. The national guidelines for sedation management include a daily interruption of sedation performed once each morning. To determine the amount of sedation needed, the current standard practice is to use a system called the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS). The patient is stimulated by calling their name or by tapping their shoulder until the patient's responses indicate that a satisfactory level of sedation has been achieved.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the use of a device called the BIS monitor in addition to the RASS will give better assessment of a subject's level of sedation. The BIS monitor is a sensor strip taped to the forehead and attached to a device that reads electrical activity from the brain. It is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for monitoring patients under sedation.