• Dong-Xu Lei, Chun-Ju Wu, Ze-Yan Wu, Ling-Yu Wang, Qing Zhao, and Ying-Jun She.
• From the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou (L DX, W CJ, W LY, Z Q, S YJ) and Department of Anesthesiology, Huizhou first people's Hospital, Huizhou, China (W ZY).
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2022 Nov 1; 39 (11): 858867858-867.

BackgroundEmergence agitation is a common paediatric complication after inhalational anaesthesia. Intranasal dexmedetomidine can prevent emergence agitation effectively, but the optimal dose is uncertain.ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to investigate the 95% effective dose (ED 95 ) of intranasal dexmedetomidine for the prevention of emergence agitation after inhalational anaesthesia for paediatric ambulatory surgery.DesignA prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial.SettingThe study was conducted in Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center in China from August 2017 to December 2018.PatientsThree hundred and eighteen children scheduled for ambulatory surgery were enrolled into two age groups of less than 3 years and at least 3 years.InterventionsThe children in each age group were randomised into five equal subgroups to receive either intranasal dexmedetomidine 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 μg kg -1 (Groups D 0.5 , D 1.0 , D 1.5 and D 2.0 ), or intranasal isotonic saline (group C) after induction.Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary outcome was the ED 95 dose of intranasal dexmedetomidine for preventing emergence agitation after inhalational anaesthesia for paediatric ambulatory surgery.ResultsThe incidences of emergence agitation for Groups C, D 0.5 , D 1.0 , D 1.5 and D 2.0 were 63, 40, 23, 13 and 3% in children less than 3 years, and 43, 27, 17, 7 and 3% in children at least 3 years. The ED 95 of intranasal dexmedetomidine for preventing emergence agitation was 1.99 μg kg -1 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.83 to 3.80 μg kg -1 ] in children less than 3 years, and 1.78  μg kg -1 (95% CI, 0.93 to 4.29 μg kg -1 ) in children at least 3 years. LMA removal time for groups D 1.5 and D 2.0 was 9.6 ± 2.2 and 9.7 ± 2.5 min, respectively, for children less than 3 years, and 9.4 ± 2.0 and 9.9 ± 2.7 min in children at least 3 years, respectively. Length of stay in the postanaesthesia care unit for Groups D 1.5 and D 2.0 was 34.3 ± 9.6 and 37.1 ± 11.2 min, respectively, in children less than 3 years, and 34.7 ± 10.2 and 37.3 ± 8.3 min in children at least 3 years, respectively. These times were longer in the D 1.5 and D 2.0 subgroups than in the control subgroup in the two age groups of less than 3 years and at least 3 years, respectively: 7.2 ± 1.9 min in children less than 3 years and 7.3 ± 2.5 min in children at least 3 years for LMA removal time, 22.2 ± 7.9 min in children less than 3 years and 22.0 ± 7.7 min in children at least 3 years for PACU stay time in control subgroup, respectively ( P  < 0.05).ConclusionIntranasal dexmedetomidine prevented emergence agitation after paediatric surgery in a dose-dependent manner. The optimal dose of intranasal dexmedetomidine for preventing emergence agitation was higher in younger children.Trial Registrychictr.org.cn: ChiCTR-IOR-17012415.Copyright © 2022 European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

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