Dexmedetomidine and Long-term Outcomes in Elderly Patients After Cardiac Surgery

Summary

A retrospective study showed that intraoperative dexmedetomidine administration was associated with decreased risk of 1-year mortality after cardiac surgery. In a previous randomized controlled trial, 285 elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery were randomized to receive either perioperative dexmedetomidine or placebo (normal saline) administration. The purpose of this 6-year follow-up study is to investigate whether perioperative dexmedetomidine can improve long-term outcomes in those recruited elderly patients after cardiac surgery.

Timeline

Start

2021-10-21

Primary completion

2022-05-03

Completion

2022-05-03

Outcome

Missed primary endpoint

paper there were 18 deaths (12.6%) with placebo versus 22 deaths (15.5%) with dexmedetomidine; hazard ratio (HR) 1.22, 95% CI 0.65 to 2.27, p = 0.418. PMID 40097932 ↗

Publications

• Background Guenther U, Radtke FM. Delirium in the postanaesthesia period. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2011 Dec;24(6):670-5. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e32834c7b44.
• Background Morandi A, Pandharipande PP, Jackson JC, Bellelli G, Trabucchi M, Ely EW. Understanding terminology of delirium and long-term cognitive impairment in critically ill patients. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2012 Sep;26(3):267-76. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2012.08.001.
• Background Groen JA, Banayan D, Gupta S, Xu S, Bhalerao S. Treatment of delirium following cardiac surgery. J Card Surg. 2012 Sep;27(5):589-93. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8191.2012.01508.x.
• Background Ely EW, Gautam S, Margolin R, Francis J, May L, Speroff T, Truman B, Dittus R, Bernard R, Inouye SK. The impact of delirium in the intensive care unit on hospital length of stay. Intensive Care Med. 2001 Dec;27(12):1892-900. doi: 10.1007/s00134-001-1132-2. Epub 2001 Nov 8.
• Background Girard TD, Shintani AK, Ely EW. Comment on "Incidence, risk factors and consequences of ICU delirium" by Ouimet et al. Intensive Care Med. 2007 Aug;33(8):1479-80; author reply 1481-2. doi: 10.1007/s00134-007-0698-8. Epub 2007 Jun 5. No abstract available.
• Background Thomason JW, Shintani A, Peterson JF, Pun BT, Jackson JC, Ely EW. Intensive care unit delirium is an independent predictor of longer hospital stay: a prospective analysis of 261 non-ventilated patients. Crit Care. 2005 Aug;9(4):R375-81. doi: 10.1186/cc3729. Epub 2005 Jun 1.
• Background Milbrandt EB, Deppen S, Harrison PL, Shintani AK, Speroff T, Stiles RA, Truman B, Bernard GR, Dittus RS, Ely EW. Costs associated with delirium in mechanically ventilated patients. Crit Care Med. 2004 Apr;32(4):955-62. doi: 10.1097/01.ccm.0000119429.16055.92.
• Background Hopkins RO, Jackson JC. Short- and long-term cognitive outcomes in intensive care unit survivors. Clin Chest Med. 2009 Mar;30(1):143-53, ix. doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2008.11.001.
• Background Jackson JC, Gordon SM, Hart RP, Hopkins RO, Ely EW. The association between delirium and cognitive decline: a review of the empirical literature. Neuropsychol Rev. 2004 Jun;14(2):87-98. doi: 10.1023/b:nerv.0000028080.39602.17.
• Background Vaurio LE, Sands LP, Wang Y, Mullen EA, Leung JM. Postoperative delirium: the importance of pain and pain management. Anesth Analg. 2006 Apr;102(4):1267-73. doi: 10.1213/01.ane.0000199156.59226.af.
• Background Halaszynski TM. Pain management in the elderly and cognitively impaired patient: the role of regional anesthesia and analgesia. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2009 Oct;22(5):594-9. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e32833020dc.
• Background Rudolph JL, Ramlawi B, Kuchel GA, McElhaney JE, Xie D, Sellke FW, Khabbaz K, Levkoff SE, Marcantonio ER. Chemokines are associated with delirium after cardiac surgery. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008 Feb;63(2):184-9. doi: 10.1093/gerona/63.2.184.
• Background de Rooij SE, van Munster BC, Korevaar JC, Levi M. Cytokines and acute phase response in delirium. J Psychosom Res. 2007 May;62(5):521-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.11.013.
• Background Roth-Isigkeit A, Borstel TV, Seyfarth M, Schmucker P. Perioperative serum levels of tumour-necrosis-factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-10 and soluble IL-2 receptor in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass without and with correction for haemodilution. Clin Exp Immunol. 1999 Nov;118(2):242-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1999.01050.x.
• Background Holmes JH 4th, Connolly NC, Paull DL, Hill ME, Guyton SW, Ziegler SF, Hall RA. Magnitude of the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass and its relation to adverse clinical outcomes. Inflamm Res. 2002 Dec;51(12):579-86. doi: 10.1007/pl00012432.
• Background Bidwell J. Interventions for preventing delirium in hospitalized non-ICU patients: A Cochrane review summary. Int J Nurs Stud. 2017 May;70:142-143. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2016.11.010. Epub 2016 Nov 17. No abstract available.
• Background Liu C, Zhang Y, She S, Xu L, Ruan X. A randomised controlled trial of dexmedetomidine for suspension laryngoscopy. Anaesthesia. 2013 Jan;68(1):60-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2012.07331.x. Epub 2012 Oct 29.
• Background Gozalo-Marcilla M, Hopster K, Gasthuys F, Hatz L, Krajewski AE, Schauvliege S. Effects of a constant-rate infusion of dexmedetomidine on the minimal alveolar concentration of sevoflurane in ponies. Equine Vet J. 2013 Mar;45(2):204-8. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2012.00613.x. Epub 2012 Aug 1.
• Background Bekker A, Haile M, Kline R, Didehvar S, Babu R, Martiniuk F, Urban M. The effect of intraoperative infusion of dexmedetomidine on the quality of recovery after major spinal surgery. J Neurosurg Anesthesiol. 2013 Jan;25(1):16-24. doi: 10.1097/ANA.0b013e31826318af.
• Background Shim JJ, Leung JM. An update on delirium in the postoperative setting: prevention, diagnosis and management. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2012 Sep;26(3):327-43. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2012.08.003.
• Background Park JK, Cheong SH, Lee KM, Lim SH, Lee JH, Cho K, Kim MH, Kim HT. Does dexmedetomidine reduce postoperative pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy with multimodal analgesia? Korean J Anesthesiol. 2012 Nov;63(5):436-40. doi: 10.4097/kjae.2012.63.5.436. Epub 2012 Nov 16.
• Background Anger KE. Dexmedetomidine: a review of its use for the management of pain, agitation, and delirium in the intensive care unit. Curr Pharm Des. 2013;19(22):4003-13. doi: 10.2174/1381612811319220009.
• Background Ji F, Li Z, Nguyen H, Young N, Shi P, Fleming N, Liu H. Response to letters regarding article, "perioperative dexmedetomidine improves outcomes of cardiac surgery". Circulation. 2013 Oct 15;128(16):e339-40. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.005450. No abstract available.
• Hong H, Li X, Yang J, Zhang Y, Liu GY, Yan FX, Wang DX. Impact of perioperative dexmedetomidine on long-term outcomes in older patients following cardiac surgery: follow-up of a randomized trial. BMC Anesthesiol. 2025 Mar 17;25(1):130. doi: 10.1186/s12871-025-02963-w.

Drugs

Indications