Abstract
Purpose
This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between intraoperative dexmedetomidine infusion and emergence agitation (EA), and recovery profiles after lung surgery in adult patients. It was hypothesized that dexmedetomidine was associated with reduced EA and improved recovery profiles.
Patients and methods
A single-center chart review was conducted on elective lung surgeries in adults between January and December 2016. The primary outcome was the incidence of EA in postanesthesia care units (PACUs). The secondary outcomes included rescue analgesia, shivering, time to extubation, residual sedation, postoperative pulmonary events, duration of PACU stay, length of hospital stay, and intraoperative hemodynamic changes. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to analyze data.
Results
Among 2,468 patients, 814 received an intraoperative dexmedetomidine infusion. Intraoperative dexmedetomidine infusion was associated with a lower incidence of EA (10.9% vs 15.0%; adjusted OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.51–0.87; P=0.003), rescue analgesia (7.6% vs 12.2%; adjusted OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.47–0.86; P=0.003), shivering (4.2% vs 6.6%; adjusted OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.38–0.88; P=0.010), and intraoperative bradycardia (18.6% vs 12.6%; adjusted OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.19–1.92; P=0.001). No differences were observed in residual sedation, duration of PACU stay, postoperative pulmonary events, and length of hospital stay between the groups.
Conclusion
This retrospective study suggested that intraoperative dexmedetomidine infusion was associated with a lower incidence of EA, rescue analgesia, and shivering in adults after lung surgery. Intraoperative bradycardia was the main side effect.
Acknowledgments
All authors thank Xianhong Huang, PhD (Statistician, Department of Social Medicine, Medical College of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China). This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81471171, 81771194), the Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Y19H310028), and a Zhejiang Provincial Medical and Health Grant (2015KYB118).
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.