Effect and Placental Transfer of Dexmedetomidine During Caesarean Section Under General Anaesthesia

Many drugs can pass through the placenta and cause adverse effects on the foetus. Thus, during Caesarean section for puerperas who have contraindications for intravertebral anaesthesia, the use of proper drugs that have sedative, analgesic effects on the puerperas without adverse effects on the foetus is important. In this study, we investigated the effect and placental transfer of dexmedetomidine during Caesarean section under general anaesthesia. Thirty-eight puerperas were randomly divided to receive dexmedetomidine or saline before anaesthesia induction and during the operation. The dexmedetomidine-treated parturients had lower mean arterial pressure and heart rate at the delivery and at the end of the operation. The dexmedetomidine-treated parturients also needed 5.5% less propofol and 8.4% less fentanyl than the saline-treated ones. Between the dexmedetomidine-treated and saline-treated parturients, there was no difference in the maternal artery, umbilical vein, umbilical artery blood gas analysis results and the Apgar scores at 1 and 5 min. after delivery. The placental transfer rate of dexmedetomidine was 0.76. We concluded that dexmedetomidine was effective in maintaining the haemodynamic stability in the parturients during Caesarean section under general anaesthesia without adverse neonatal effects. Dexmedetomidine can pass through the placenta with a placental transfer rate of 0.76.