Introduction:

The continuous monitoring of the electroencephalogram is the simultaneous collection of brain activity and clinical behavior for a period of hours to days. Due to the high cost of the technique, it is not yet widely used.

Objectives:

To evaluate the usefulness of continuous electroencephalographic monitoring in critically ill patients.

Methods:

A descriptive, retrospective and longitudinal study was carried out in 118 subjects over 19 years of age admitted to the therapy units at Hermanos Ameijeiras Surgical Clinical Hospital; from November 2016 to October 2018. They were indicated a continuous electroencephalogram. Clinical and electroencephalographic variables were considered, such as Glasgow scale, seizure occurrence, diagnosis, discharge status, electroencephalogram abnormality, epileptiform discharges, suspicion of nonconvulsive status epilepticus by electroencephalogram, among others. The data was processed with the Chi square test, the Mc Nemar test and the student's t test, using significance level of p≤0.05.

Results:

Sixty patients were female, the median age was 67.5 years. The Glasgow scale showed significant association with the degree of electroencephalogram abnormality (p=0.001). A reactivity and discontinuity of baseline activity are predictors of poor prognosis. Periodic epileptiform discharges were observed in 100 patients. Non-convulsive status epilepticus was defined in 56 subjects (37.28%) and in 81 subjects (68.64%) the result of the electroencephalogram motivated a medical procedure.

Conclusions:

The continuous monitoring of the electroencephalogram is useful in the diagnosis and management of patients with non-convulsive episodes, it allows formulating a neurological prognosis and guided medical conduct.

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