Medetomidine premedication in dental surgery--a double-blind cross-over study with a new alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist

A single 50-micrograms dose of medetomidine, a highly selective alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist, was administered intravenously as premedication 30 min before surgical third molar extraction under local anaesthesia to ten healthy male subjects in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Blood pressure, heart rate, plasma catecholamines and cortisol were measured as indicators of operation-related stress. Apprehension and pain were assessed with repeated Visual Analogue Scales. The dental surgeon rated the overall effectiveness of the premedications, and the patients reported their subjective preference. Drug-induced sedation was determined with the Critical Flicker Frequency (CFF) test. The dental surgeon rated medetomidine as significantly more effective premedication than saline placebo. Apprehension was significantly reduced by medetomidine. The patients clearly preferred medetomidine premedication. Blood pressure was lower in the medetomidine session, whereas no significant differences were seen in heart rate. Plasma noradrenaline was lower after medetomidine, but adrenaline and cortisol levels were not affected. In conclusion, medetomidine may offer a useful alternative to traditional premedications in out-patient surgery, and its clinical usefulness should also be studied in other anaesthetic paradigms.