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Background: Continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) has been recommended in critically ill patients although its efficacy for improving patients' functional status remains unclear. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of Tele-cEEG with Tele-routine EEG (Tele-rEEG), in terms of seizure detection rate, mortality and functional outcomes., Methods: This study is a 3-year randomized, controlled, parallel, multicenter trial, conducted in eight regional hospitals across Thailand. Eligible participants were critically ill patients aged ≥ 15 years and at-risk for developing nonconvulsive seizure (NCS)/nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE). Study interventions were 24-72 h Tele-cEEG versus 30-min Tele-rEEG. Study outcomes were seizure detection rate, mortality and functional outcomes (mRS), assessed at hospital discharge, ≤ 7 days, 3-, 6-, 9-months and 1 year., Results: Two hundred and fifty-four patients were randomized, 128 and 126 patients received Tele-cEEG and Tele-rEEG, respectively. NCS/NCSE were detected more commonly in the Tele-cEEG (21.88%) than Tele-rEEG arm (14.29%) but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.116). Intention-to-treat, per-protocol and as-treated analysis showed non-significant differences in mortality at all assessment periods, with corresponding mortality rates of 10.03% (Tele-cEEG) versus 10.10% (Tele-rEEG) (p = 0.894), 9.67% versus 9.06% (p = 0.833) and 10.34% versus 9.06% (p = 0.600), respectively. Functional outcome was also not significantly different in all analyses., Conclusions: Both Tele-cEEG and Tele-rEEG are feasible, although Tele-EEG requires additional EEG specialists, budget, and computational resources. While Tele-cEEG may help detect NCS/NCSE, this study had limited power to detect its efficacy in reducing mortality or improving functional outcomes. In limited-resource settings, Tele-rEEG approximating 30 min or longer offers a feasible and potentially valuable initial screening tool for critically ill patients at-risk of seizures. However, where Tele-cEEG is readily available, it remains the recommended approach. Trial registration Thai Clinical Trials Registry (TTCTR20181022002); Registered 22 October 2018., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University (IRB No.627/61); Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University (MURA 2019/723); and all local ethics committee of the study hospitals. Every participant or their relatives or caregivers provided signed-informed consent. Competing interests: None of the authors have associations with any commercial entities that provided support for the work reported in this manuscript. None of the authors have associations with commercial entities that could be viewed as having an interest in the general area of the manuscript. None of the authors have any similar financial associations involving their spouse or children under 18 years of age. None of the authors have non-financial associations that may be relevant to the manuscript., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Some critically ill patients are confirmed by continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring that non-convulsive seizure (NCS) and/or non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) are causes of their depressed level of consciousness. Shortage of epilepsy specialists, especially in developing countries, is a major limiting factor in implementing cEEG in general practice. Delivery of care with tele-continous EEG (tele-cEEG) may be a potential solution as this allows specialists from a central facility to remotely assist local neurologists from distant areas in interpreting EEG findings and suggest proper treatment. No tele-cEEG programme has been implemented to help improve quality of care. Therefore, this study is conducted to assess the efficacy and cost utility of implementing tele-cEEG in critical care., Methods and Analysis: The Tele-cRCT study is a 3-year prospective, randomised, controlled, parallel, multicentre, superiority trial comparing delivery of care through 'Tele-cEEG' intervention with 'Tele-routine EEG (Tele-rEEG)' in patients with clinical suspicion of NCS/NCSE. A group of EEG specialists and a tele-EEG system were set up to remotely interpret EEG findings in six regional government hospitals across Thailand. The primary outcomes are functional neurological outcome (modified Rankin Scale, mRS), mortality rate and incidence of seizures. The secondary outcomes are cost utility, length of stay, emergency visit/readmission, impact on changing medical decisions and health professionals' perceptions about tele-cEEG implementation. Functional outcome (mRS) will be assessed at 3 and 7 days after recruitment, and again at time of hospital discharge, and at 90 days, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year. Costs and health-related quality of life will be assessed using the Thai version of the EuroQol-five dimensions-five levels (EQ-5D-5L) at hospital discharge, and at 90 days, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year., Ethics and Dissemination: This study has been approved by the ethics committees of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and of Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, and registered on Thai Clinical Trials Registry. The results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal., Trial Registration Number: TCTR20181022002; preresults., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)