BACKGROUND Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective α2-agonist with hypnotic, analgesic, and anxiolytic properties. Despite off-label administration, dexmedetomidine has found a niche in critically ill neonates and infants with congenital heart disease because of its minimal effects on respiratory function at sedative doses, facilitating early extubation and fast-track postoperative care. There ar...

patients and methods sixty children aged between 2 and 12 years, and scheduled for on-pump surgery due to a congenital heart disease were randomly assigned into two groups. oral midazolam (0.5 mg/kg up to 15 mg per patient) and dexmedetomidine (2 µg/kg) were administered 45 minutes pre-anesthesia. children’s anxiety, mask acceptance behavior, hemodynamic measures, and cardiopulmonary outcomes w...

More than 200 studies and reports have been published regarding the use of dexmedetomidine in infants and children. We reviewed the English literature to summarize the current state of knowledge of this drug in children for the practicing anesthesiologist. Dexmedetomidine is an effective sedative for infants and children that only minimally depresses the respiratory system while maintaining a p...

PURPOSE Dexmedetomidine, an α2-adrenergic agonist, provides sedative and analgesic effects without significant respiratory depression. Dexmedetomidine has been suggested to have an antiapoptotic effect in response to various brain insults. We developed an oral mucosa patch using dexmedetomidine for sedation. The effects of the dexmedetomidine oral mucosa patch on cell proliferation and apoptosi...

Purpose: Our study aimed to investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine on basal synaptic transmission in the rat hippocampus. We also examined dexmedetomidine in an animal epilepsy model, with further investigation into the role of specific antagonists on the alpha-2 adrenoceptors and the imidazoline receptors. Methods: All of the experiments used the CA1 region of hippocampal brain slices prep...

The cardiovascular effects of dexmedetomidine alone or in combination with atropine were studied in six cats. Cats underwent four treatments in a randomized crossover design as follows: DEX15, saline+dexmedetomidine 15microg/kg; DEX30, saline+dexmedetomidine 30microg/kg; ADEX15, atropine+dexmedetomidine 15microg/kg; ADEX30, atropine+dexmedetomidine 30microg/kg. Pulse rate (PR) and systolic arte...

BACKGROUND Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective central α2-agonist used as a sedative in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). However, little is known about the relationship between dexmedetomidine dose and its plasma concentration during long-term infusion. We have previously demonstrated that the sedative plasma dexmedetomidine concentration is moderately correlated with the administered do...

Dexmedetomidine, the D-enantiomer of medetomidine, is among the most potent sedative drugs known. It is also one of the best understood in terms of its molecular and cellular mechanisms. Its sedative (and probably its neuroprotective) effects are mediated by subtype A of the α2 adrenergic receptor, a G-protein-coupled receptor. Acting as an agonist at this receptor, dexmedetomidine causes numer...

BACKGROUND Adequate sedation is important in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) to ensure patient comfort and decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), PACU stay, and bleeding. This study aimed to compare dexmedetomidine and propofol as sedatives after UPPP in the PACU. MATERIAL AND METHODS We randomized 124 mechanically ventilated adul...

The goal of this in vitro study was to examine the effect of the alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine on phenylephrine (alpha-1 adrenoceptor agonist)-induced contraction in isolated rat aortae and to elucidate the associated cellular mechanisms, with a particular focus on alpha-1 adrenoceptor antagonism. Dexmedetomidine dose-response curves were generated in isolated endothelium-intact ...