Introduction of bispectral index monitoring in a district general hospital operating suite: a prospective audit of clinical and economic effects.

Background And Objective: Randomized controlled trials have shown several beneficial effects of intraoperative bispectral index monitoring. We conducted a prospective audit to determine whether these could be replicated in everyday clinical practice.

Methods: Recovery characteristics and drug costs from two 4-week periods were compared, immediately before (phase 1, n = 427 patients) and after (phase 2, n = 299 patients) the introduction of bispectral index monitoring in the main operating theatres of a district general hospital.