Background & Aims: Although the guidelines for the diagnosis of brain death are well established, further confirmatory tests are required. Performing these tests need high costs, specialized personnel and technology, transportation of patients out of the intensive care unit, and use of contrast. The Bispectral Index (BIS) can provide objective and continuous monitoring of the consciousness level. The aim of this prospective study was to define the role of bispectral index monitoring in the confirmation and diagnosis of brain death.

Materials & Methods: This study included 32 patients with brain death confirmed by several tests during a period of 12 months. BIS monitoring was performed using an XP BIS monitor and the BIS and the suppression ratio (SR) was evaluated in all cases for two hours.

Results: In all patients with brain death diagnosis, the BIS showed values of near 0 (0.72 ± 0.8) and suppression rates of near the 100 (99.1±0.9). The sensitivity of BIS for detection of brain death was 100%.

Conclusion: The BIS is a noninvasive, simple, and easy method for assessment of brain death. The BIS cannot be used on its own for the confirmation of the brain death, but it is a useful tool for enabling appropriate scheduling of either EEG or cerebral angiography to confirm brain death.