Background:
Patients undergoing cardiothoracic
surgery frequently encounter perioperative neurocognitive
disorders (PND), which can include postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative
cognitive decline (POCD). Currently, there is not enough evidence to support the
use of electroencephalograms (EEGs) in preventing POD and POCD among
cardiothoracic surgery patients. This meta-analysis examined the importance of
EEG monitoring in POD and POCD.
Methods:
Cochrane
Library, PubMed, and EMBASE databases were searched to obtain the relevant
literature. This analysis identified trials based on the inclusion and exclusion
criteria. The Cochrane tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of
the included studies. Review Manager software (version 5.3) was applied to
analyze the data.
Results:
Four randomized controlled
trials (RCTs) were included in this meta-analysis, with 1096 participants. Our
results found no correlation between EEG monitoring and lower POD risk (relative
risk (RR): 0.81; 95% CI: 0.55–1.18;
p
= 0.270). There was also no
statistically significant difference between the EEG group and the control group
in the red cell transfusions (RR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.51–1.46;
p
= 0.590),
intensive care unit (ICU) stay (mean deviation (MD): –0.46; 95% CI: –1.53–0.62;
p
=
0.410), hospital stay (MD: –0.27; 95% CI: –2.00–1.47;
p
= 0.760),
and mortality (RR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.03–3.59;
p
= 0.360). Only one trial
reported an incidence of POCD, meaning we did not conduct data analysis on POCD
risk.
Conclusions:
This meta-analysis did not find evidence supporting
EEG monitoring as a potential method to reduce POD incidence in cardiothoracic
surgery patients. In the future, more high-quality RCTs with larger sample sizes
are needed to validate the relationship between EEG monitoring and POD/POCD
further.