Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 1: the use of bispectral index monitoring (BIS) in conscious sedation.

A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether routine use of bispectral index monitoring in emergency department conscious sedation was effective in improving patient safety. Thirteen unique papers were found using the reported searches, of which three presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this paper are tabulated. It is concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to support the routine use of bispectral index monitoring during conscious sedation and further studies are needed to investigate its exact benefits.