Analysis of SEF95 derived from two processed EEG devices during pediatric anesthesia for non-cardiac surgery

This study aimed to compare the values of spectral edge frequency at the 95th percentile (SEF95) obtained simultaneously by two different processed electroencephalography monitors (BIS^® and SedLine^®) in pediatric patients of varying ages undergoing non cardiac surgery to determine whether they remain reproducible regardless of the equipment used. Tertiary Pediatric Hospital. We conducted a prospective observational study involving pediatric patients aged 12 months to 18 years. Patients were excluded if the sensor fit was inadequate or if artifacts interfered with the data collection. Anesthesia was administered by anesthesiologists according to their preferences. A total of 51 children were enrolled, yielding 402 paired BIS/SedLine SEF95 values. These values showed an r² of 0.73 at linear regression analysis (p < 0.0001), with a bias of 0.62 (2.4) Hz and 95% limits of agreement (LoA) ranging from - 4.08 to 5.32 Hz in Bland-Altman analysis. Median SEF95 deltas (i.e., differences of paired BIS/SedLine SEF95 values) across the analyzed time points showed significant differences (p = 0.0017) between values at 15 min and 60 min after skin incision compared to extubation. A delta SEF95 within the ± 2 Hz range was observed in 267 cases (66%), within ± 3 Hz occurred in other 67 measurements (17%) and within ± 4 Hz in further 48 (12%). The remaining 20 measurements showed a higher delta. SedLine SEF95 was higher than BIS in 40 cases, while BIS was higher than SedLine in 96 cases. SEF95 monitored by BIS or SedLine pediatric patients showed some differences, with deltas up to ± 4 Hz. Values appeared to be closer during the anesthesia maintenance phase. The clinical relevance of these findings should be further confirmed.