Effect of remifentanil on the nonlinear electroencephalographic entropy parameters in propofol anesthesia.

Nonlinear electroencephalographic entropy parameters have been proposed for the assessment of depth of anesthesia. The influence of remifentanil, a commonly used intraoperative opioid, on these parameters, namely approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SampEn), and permutation entropy (PeEn), during induction of propofol anesthesia was studied. Remifentanil was shown to reduce the propofol-induced changes in ApEn and SampEn throughout the transition from awake to burst suppression state. Coadministration of opioids therefore challenges the reliability of these parameters as indicators of depth of anesthesia. No consistent influence on PeEn was observed. However, this may have been due to strong interindividual variation in PeEn values.