What it looks like
Bursts of mixed, often sharp activity separated by periods of suppression (below 10 µV), with suppression or attenuation occupying 50–99% of the record. 1
What it means at the bedside
It means one of three things: deep anaesthesia (often the therapeutic target in refractory status epilepticus), profound hypothermia, or severe diffuse brain injury. After cardiac arrest, burst suppression persisting beyond 24 hours without sedation to explain it is a highly malignant pattern. 7,8