Auditory Evoked Potentials: A Reliable Guide to Sedation Levels during General Anethesia

General anesthesia is the deliberate induction and maintenance of reversible unconsciousness, analgesia and areflexia. Anesthetics produce dose-dependent suppression of cognitive processing. Due to the use of neuromuscular blocking agents and also due to the inherent side effects of the anesthetics themselves, clinical signs of inadequate anesthesia, such as spontaneous movement or increase of blood pressure with surgical stimulation are suppressed. Techniques to reliably detect of states of inadequate anesthesia are, therefore, highly desirable. The auditory evoked potential index (AEPidx) provides a reliable and single numerical variable to obtain real time data of state of consciousness that is superior to BIS monitoring. This research paper helps in accessing that auditory evoked potential as a reliable guide to sedation levels during general anesthesia