• Morgan Le Guen, Ngai Liu, Felix Tounou, Marion Augé, Olivier Tuil, Thierry Chazot, Dominique Dardelle, Pierre-Antoine Laloë, Francis Bonnet, Daniel I Sessler, and Marc Fischler.
• From the *Department of Anesthesiology, Hôpital Foch, Suresnes, France; †UVSQ-UFR des Sciences de la Santé Simone Veil, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France; ‡Outcomes Research Consortium, Cleveland, Ohio; §Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Hôpital Tenon, Paris, France; ‖Pharmacy, Hôpital Foch, Suresnes, France; ¶Department of Anesthesiology, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, United Kingdom; #UPMC, Paris, France; and **Department of Outcomes Research, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Anesth. Analg.. 2014 May 1;118(5):946-55.

BackgroundThe α2-adrenergic agonist dexmedetomidine is a sedative and can be used as an adjunct to anesthetics. Our primary goal was thus to determine the extent to which dexmedetomidine reduces the requirement for propofol and remifentanil.MethodsThis double-blinded, randomized study (NCT00921284) used an automated dual closed-loop administration to maintain the Bispectral Index between 40 and 60. Sixty-6 ASA physical status I and II patients were given either dexmedetomidine (1 μg/kg over 10 minutes followed by a continuous infusion of 0.5 μg/kg/h throughout surgery) or comparable volumes of saline as a placebo. Propofol and remifentanil requirements were compared using nonparametric tests and expressed as medians (interquartile ranges).ResultsTwenty-eight patients in each group completed the study. Patients given dexmedetomidine required less propofol (1.0 [0.7-1.3] vs 1.3 [1.0-1.7] mg/kg, P = 0.002) and remifentanil (1.2 [1.0-1.4] vs 1.6 [1.1-2.8] μg/kg, P = 0.02) for anesthetic induction. The propofol dosage required for anesthetic maintenance was 29% (with a 95% confidence interval, 18-40) lower in patients given dexmedetomidine (2.2 [1.5-3.0] vs 3.1 [2.4-4.5] mg/kg/h, P = 0.005), whereas the remifentanil dosage was not significantly different (0.16 [0.09-0.17] vs 0.14 [0.13-0.21] μg/kg/h with P = 0.3). The incidence of adverse events, including hemodynamic instability and delayed recovery, was comparable with and without dexmedetomidine. The first postoperative request for morphine analgesia was delayed in patients given dexmedetomidine (median fourth hour vs first hour, P = 0.008).ConclusionsDexmedetomidine administration significantly reduced the requirement for both propofol and remifentanil during anesthetic induction and reduced propofol use during maintenance of anesthesia. Dexmedetomidine also delayed postoperative analgesic use. Dexmedetomidine is a useful adjuvant that reduces anesthetic requirement and provides postoperative analgesia.

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