EEGs during high-dose fentanyl-, sufentanil-, or morphine-oxygen anesthesia.

In 49 patients undergoing open-heart surgery we compared the electroencephalographic (EEG) effects of high-dose morphine, fentanyl, or sufentanil with O2, using two computerized analysis and display techniques: a period analysis (the Klein method) and an aperiodic analysis (the Neurometrics monitor). During fentanyl or sufentanil anesthesia, both techniques revealed a general decrease in frequency, shown by the aperiodic analysis primarily as a marked increase in the very low frequency range: an increase in the 1-Hz bin (TP1, in muv2) from 2.80 X 10(4) +/- 3.20 X 10(4) (SD) to 45.1 X 10(4) +/- 27.2 X 10(4) for fentanyl and from 3.11 X 10(4) +/- 2.83 X 10(4) to 52.8 X 10(4) for sufentanil. The cumulative percent power at 3 Hz (CP3) increased from 27.2 +/- 6.8 to 83.0 +/- 11.0 for fentanyl and from 22.7 +/- 5.2 to 85.1 +/- 10.4 for sufentanil, while the frequency at 90% cumulative percent power (F90, in Hz) decreased from 17.8 +/- 2.9 to 7.9 +/- 2.8 for fentanyl and 16.4 +/- 5.2 to 5.6 +/- 4.3 for sufentanil. The changes with morphine were less obvious, with some attenuation of high-frequency power shown by the Klein method, and an increase from 24.1 +/- 8.6 to 59.3 +/- 20.7 with CP3, but no change in TP1. Low-frequency power with the period analysis and TP1 with the aperiodic analysis decreased between laryngoscopy and the incisions with fentanyl and sufentanil.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)