Status
Conditions
Treatments
About
In this study, the investigators explore anesthesia as a tool for providing further insight into the level of consciousness of individuals with a clinical diagnosis of unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), but who possess some neurophysiological signatures of conscious awareness. This group, who could potentially be conscious, will herein be referred to as the target population. Our goal is to assess whether or not neurological patterns of consciousness in the target population respond to anesthesia in a similar manner to neurologically compromised individuals with known consciousness (e.g. those in minimally conscious state (MCS). In healthy controls, propofol-induced unconsciousness results in an elimination of the mismatch negativity event-related brain potential (ERP) and a diminished directed connectivity. The investigators hypothesize that at doses well below those required for surgery, anesthesia will have similar effects on these neural patterns in neurologically compromised patients with the potential for conscious awareness, but will not affect these patterns in those who lack consciousness.
Enrollment
Sex
Ages
Volunteers
Inclusion criteria
Patients admitted to the intensive care unit at Hamilton General Hospital who:
Exclusion criteria
• Elevated intracranial pressure (ICP)
Primary purpose
Allocation
Interventional model
Masking
60 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group
Loading...
Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
Clinical trials
Research sites
Resources
Legal