• Yanmei Bi, Yushan Ma, Juan Ni, and Lan Wu.
• Department of Anesthesiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
• BMC Anesthesiol. 2019 Dec 2; 19 (1): 219.

BackgroundTracheobronchial foreign body aspiration in children is a life-threatening, emergent situation. Currently, the use of fiberoptic bronchoscopy for removing foreign bodies is attracting increasing attention. Oxygen desaturation, body movement, laryngospasm, bronchospasm, and breath-holding are common adverse events during foreign body removal. Dexmedetomidine, as a highly selective α2-adrenergic agonist, produces sedative and analgesic effects, and does not induce respiratory depression. We hypothesized that intranasal dexmedetomidine at 1 μg kg - 1 administered 25 min before anesthesia induction can reduce the incidence of adverse events during fiberoptic bronchoscopy under inhalation general anesthesia with sevoflurane.MethodsIn all, 40 preschool-aged children (6-48 months) with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status of I or II were randomly allocated to receive either intranasal dexmedetomidine at 1 μg·kg - 1 or normal saline at 0.01 ml kg- 1 25 min before anesthesia induction. The primary outcome was the incidence of perioperative adverse events. Heart rate, respiratory rate, parent-child separation score, tolerance of the anesthetic mask, agitation score, consumption of sevoflurane, and recovery time were also recorded.ResultsFollowing pre-anesthesia treatment with either intranasal dexmedetomidine or saline, the incidences of laryngospasm (15% vs. 50%), breath-holding (10% vs. 40%), and coughing (5% vs. 30%) were significantly lower in patients given dexmedetomidine than those given saline. Patients who received intranasal dexmedetomidine had a lower parent-child separation score (P = 0.017), more satisfactory tolerance of the anesthetic mask (P = 0.027), and less consumption of sevoflurane (38.18 ± 14.95 vs. 48.03 ± 14.45 ml, P = 0.041). The frequency of postoperative agitation was significantly lower in patients given intranasal dexmedetomidine (P = 0.004), and the recovery time was similar in the two groups.ConclusionsIntranasal dexmedetomidine 1 μg·kg- 1, with its sedative and analgesic effects, reduced the incidences of laryngospasm, breath-holding, and coughing during fiberoptic bronchoscopy for FB removal. Moreover, it reduced postoperative agitation without a prolonged recovery time.Trail RegistrationThe study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR1800017273) on July 20, 2018.

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