The comparison of sedative effect and analysis of influencing factors of recovery for different doses of dexmedetomidine in children undergoing echocardiography

Objective To investigate the effectiveness and safety of intranasal different dose of dexmedetomidine for pediatric echocardiography sedation and to discuss the factors concerning recovery. Methods In a single-blinded randomized clinical trial, 183 children were studied with a range of 2months and 33 months of age, and American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) physical status ⅠtoⅡ. Those children were divided randomly into one of three groups. Groups D1, D2, and D3, which were received intranasal dexmedetomidine 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 μg/kg, respectively. The induction time, recovery time, examination time, and total sedation time were compared. The success rate of sedation and the occurrence of any side-effects with the drug were compared. Sex, age, weight, dose, induction time, and examination time were used as independent valuations, the recovery time was used as dependent valuation, and then the multiple linear regression analysis was performed to filtrate and formulate the valuable factors influencing recovery time. Results The induction time had no significantly difference among groups (P>0.05). The recovery time of group D3 was longer than group D1 and group D2 (P 0.05). Children's weight and medicine dose were found to affect recovery time. Conclusions Intranasal dexmedetomidine 1~2 μg/kg could be used effectively and safely in children undergoing echocardiography examination. Weight and dose were considered as key indexes to predict recovery time. Key words: Dexmedetomidine/AD; Deep sedation; Echocardiography, doppler, color