dexmedetomidine

Objective: To evaluate the impact of adding two different doses of dexmedetomidine to local anesthetic mixture on the quality of single injection peribulbar block in vitreoretinal operations Design: A prospective, double-blinded and randomized study. Setting: carried out in operating room of our university hospital. Patients: The study included 120 patients with viteroretinal diseases who were scheduled for vitreoretinal operations during the period from April 2016 to March 2017. Interventions: 120 patients were randomly allocated to three groups of 40 patients each. Group I (the control group) received 5-7 ml mixture of lidocaine 2% and Levobupivacaine 0.5% with 120 IU of hyaluronidase, group II received5- 7 ml mixture of lidocaine 2% and Levobupivacaine 0.5% with 120 IU of hyaluronidase +15 µgdexmedetomidine, and group III received5- 7 ml mixture of lidocaine 2% and Levobupivacaine 0.5% with 120 IU of hyaluronidase + 30 µg dexmedetomidine Measurements: The primary outcome was to evaluate the impact of adding two different doses of dexmedetomidine on the onset of globe anesthesia and akinesia. Secondary outcomes were the duration of globe anesthesia and akinesia, overall patient satisfaction and surgeon satisfaction. Results: The onset of globe anesthesia was significantly shorter in group II and III in comparison with group I. Adding dexmedetomidine to the local anesthetic mixture prolonged the duration of globe analgesia, and this difference was statistically significant in group II and III in comparison with the group I. Conclusion: Adding dexmedetomidine to a mixture of lidocaine 2% and levobupivacaine/hyaluronidase mixture in single injection peribulbar block shortened sensory and motor block onset, extended the analgesia period and the motor block duration with high patient and surgeon satisfaction.

Background: Intensive care patients are often in need of sedation to endure being intubated. Light sedation is increasingly common since it has been proved to offer benefits such as faster recovery to patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe critical care nurses’ experiences of nursing patients lightly sedated with dexmedetomidine. Research Methodology: Qualitative personal interviews were conducted during 2015 with 10 critical care nurses in Sweden. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Light sedation of the patient facilitated communication and interaction with him or her, and the relationship between the patient and his or her family members. Dexmedetomidine was described as a fairly new drug, and the critical care nurses stated that they needed more knowledge about it and about sedation scales in order to learn more about the drug’s mechanism of action and its potential side effects on patients. Conclusion: It is important to critical care nurses to learn more about dexmedetomidine and about sedation scales to assess levels of sedation, as light sedation has been shown to benefit the patient as opposed to deep sedation that can increase recovery time.