Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Emergence Agitation and Postoperative Behavior Changes in Children

Summary

Emergence agitation (EA) is a dissociated state of consciousness in which the child is inconsolable, irritable, uncooperative, typically thrashing, crying, moaning, or incoherent. Although usually transient, it is not only an extremely distressing event for children, parents, and staff, but may also result in self-injury or the need for restraint. The prevalence in children appears to be between 10% and 80% depending upon the definition and measurement tools used and is more frequently observed in the pre-school age-group. A clear correlation has been found between EA and negative postoperative behavioral changes, including anxiety, eating and sleeping disorders, enuresis, fear of darkness, that may persist for an extended period of time affecting emotional and cognitive development.Currently, numerous interventions have been studied to manage EA after surgery. Among them, dexmedetomidine (DEX) as a kind of highly selective α2 adrenergic receptor agonist has been done to reduce EA in children. Unfortunately, no studies examined posthospitalization negative behaviour changes.

Timeline

Start

2018-09-01

Primary completion

2019-06-01

Completion

2019-07-01

Publications

• Background Costi D, Cyna AM, Ahmed S, Stephens K, Strickland P, Ellwood J, Larsson JN, Chooi C, Burgoyne LL, Middleton P. Effects of sevoflurane versus other general anaesthesia on emergence agitation in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Sep 12;2014(9):CD007084. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007084.pub2.
• Background Pickard A, Davies P, Birnie K, Beringer R. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of intraoperative alpha(2)-adrenergic agonists on postoperative behaviour in children. Br J Anaesth. 2014 Jun;112(6):982-90. doi: 10.1093/bja/aeu093. Epub 2014 Apr 11.
• Background Tsiotou AG, Malisiova A, Kouptsova E, Mavri M, Anagnostopoulou M, Kalliardou E. Dexmedetomidine for the reduction of emergence delirium in children undergoing tonsillectomy with propofol anesthesia: A double-blind, randomized study. Paediatr Anaesth. 2018 Jul;28(7):632-638. doi: 10.1111/pan.13397. Epub 2018 May 12.
• Background Silva LM, Braz LG, Modolo NS. Emergence agitation in pediatric anesthesia: current features. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2008 Mar-Apr;84(2):107-13. doi: 10.2223/JPED.1763.
• Background Sun L, Guo R, Sun L. Dexmedetomidine for preventing sevoflurane-related emergence agitation in children: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2014 Jul;58(6):642-50. doi: 10.1111/aas.12292. Epub 2014 Mar 3.
• Background Kain ZN, Caldwell-Andrews AA, Maranets I, McClain B, Gaal D, Mayes LC, Feng R, Zhang H. Preoperative anxiety and emergence delirium and postoperative maladaptive behaviors. Anesth Analg. 2004 Dec;99(6):1648-1654. doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000136471.36680.97.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.