Dexmedetomidine versus Magnesium Sulfate in Anesthesia for Cochlear Implantation Surgery in Pediatric Patients

Cochlear implantation surgery represents a great advance in ENT surgeries. Special anesthetic managements were required to provide bloodless surgical field and monitoring of the facial nerve.

We aimed to compare both dexmedetomidine and magnesium sulfate as regards their efficacy in inducing deliberate hypotension and providing better quality of the surgical field during cochlear implantation in pediatrics.

Prospective, randomized double-blinded study.

Forty-six pediatric patients aging 1.5-2.5 years of either sex with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classes I and II were randomized into dexmedetomidine (D) group (n = 23) and magnesium sulfate (M) group (n = 23). In the D group, after induction of anesthesia but before the surgery, a bolus dose of 0.4 μg/kg slowly infused over 10 min, then continuous infusion by a rate of 0.4 μg/kg/h until the end of surgery. In M group, after induction of anesthesia but before the surgery, magnesium sulfate 10% (50 mg/kg) was given slowly, then continuous infusion by a rate of 10 mg/kg/h during the whole surgery. Intraoperative hemodynamics, quality of surgical field, fentanyl consumption, blood loss, operative time, FLACC pain scores, and adverse effects were compared in both groups.

Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation, ranges, numbers, and percentages as appropriate. Comparison of demographic data and time of surgery was done by Student's t-test. Two-way analysis of variance with correction for repeated measurements was used for heart rate and blood pressure comparison. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for nonparametric measurements.

Surgical field score and blood loss were better in D group than M group. Fentanyl consumption was less in D group than M group. Heart rate and mean atrial blood pressure were lower in D group except in the initial times than M group.

In our study, both drugs were effective in achieving hypotensive anesthesia in pediatrics; however, dexmedetomidine proved to have superior effect on the surgical field and blood loss compared to magnesium sulfate with no intra- and post-operative complications for cochlear implantation surgery.