High-dose dexmedetomidine for noninvasive pediatric procedural sedation and discharge readiness

The University of North Carolina's (UNC) Pediatric Sedation Service adopted a noninvasive procedural sedation protocol that uses dexmedetomidine in children based on review of literature that reported fast recovery times and low morbidity. This study aimed to compare dexmedetomidine discharge readiness times observed at UNC with those previously published with a hypothesis that the discharge times at UNC are longer than those previously published. A secondary aim was to evaluate the safety profile of the protocol.

Pediatric outpatients (6 months-18 years) who received dexmedetomidine per protocol for a noninvasive procedure or study from January 2011 through April 2012 were included in this retrospective chart review. A total of 615 patient encounters were evaluated. Patients received bolus doses of 2 μg·kg(-1) over 10 min for up to three doses followed by a 1 μg·kg(-1) ·h(-1) infusion (group 1) or a 1.5 μg·kg(-1) ·h(-1) infusion (group 2). Primary outcomes included time to sedation, time to arousal, and time to discharge.

No significant differences between the dosing groups were noted. Time to discharge was significantly shorter for group 1 (79 min) than for group 2 (101 min). The range of discharge times at UNC was 78.7-100.9 min compared to previous studies that report recovery times of 24.8-35.2 min.

Dexmedetomidine arousal and discharge times observed at UNC were longer than anticipated when compared to literature. The safety profile of the drug was comparable to prior studies.