• Yohei Iwasaki, Tadashi Nakamura, and Toshiro Hamakawa.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Junwakai Kinen Hospital, Miyazaki 880-2112.
• Masui. 2010 Nov 1;59(11):1396-9.

BackgroundUse of conventional sedatives is restricted in order to evaluate consciousness levels in patients undergoing intracranial surgery. However, patients can become agitated and delirious as a result of insufficient doses of sedatives, and as a consequence require physical restriction. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) provides a cooperative form of sedation, allowing patients easy transition from sleep to wakefulness. The clinical characteristics make it possible to perform neurological assessments. We evaluated the effect of DEX for sedation in patients undergoing cerebral aneurysm surgery.MethodsData were collected retrospectively from 49 patients admitted to the ICU after cerebral aneurysm surgery who were allocated into two groups: non-DEX(nDEX, n = 25) and DEX (n = 24).ResultsIn the nDEX group, two patients were administered sedatives and 10 patients required physical restriction, as opposed to one in the DEX group (P < 0.05). Although the Ramsay scale was higher in the DEX group (2.7 +/- 0.6) than in the nDEX group (1.5 +/- 0.6) (P < 0.05), there were no significant differences on the Glasgow coma scale.ConclusionsDEX is beneficial for sedation in patients undergoing cerebral aneurysm surgery because it provides adequate sedation with less physical restriction.

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