Continuous EEG monitoring for 24 hours in patients with non-traumatic coma in neurological intensive care unit

Abstract Background Neurological status of comatose patients in ICU cannot be assessed clinically and certain factors affecting the management and prognosis can be missed on routine neurological examination like non-convulsive seizures, secondary brain insults and increased intracranial pressure. Structural derangements are usually evaluated by imaging techniques and functional status by EEG. Objectives A 24-hour continuous EEG monitoring was done to detect non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) and non-convulsive seizures (NCS) in non-traumatic comatose patients. Methods This prospective study included 50 patients with non-traumatic coma who were divided into Group A (30 patients with seizures) and Group B (20 patients without seizures). A 24-hour continuous EEG monitoring was done to detect NCSE and NCS. The data was collected and the results statistically analyzed. Results There was a statistically significant difference in the number of patients with altered sensorium ( p p p p p Conclusions Continuous EEG is of great help in detecting NCS/NCSE which are not detected clinically. Certain risk factors are associated with the presence of NCS/NCSE.