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Updated: Nov 15, 2025

Anesthesia and Intubation of Preadolescent Mouse Pups for Cardiothoracic Surgery
Published on: June 2, 2022
Dexmedetomidine versus intermittent morphine for sedation of neonates with encephalopathy undergoing therapeutic
Anna S Cosnahan1, Robert M Angert2, Eni Jano2
1Department of Pharmacy, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, NY, USA. annacosnahan2@gmail.com.
Objective:
In March 2019, the sedative in the therapeutic hypothermia protocol at Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU Langone Health changed from morphine to dexmedetomidine. This study evaluated the impact of this change on efficacy and safety parameters.
Study Design:
This was a retrospective, observational cohort study including neonates with HIE undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (N = 70) at two regional perinatal medical centers.
Results:
Baseline demographics, pain scores, hemodynamics, and time to enteral feeds were similar between dexmedetomidine (N = 34) and morphine (N = 36) patients. Dexmedetomidine patients received more breakthrough morphine (0.13 ± 0.13 vs 0.04 ± 0.09 mg/kg, p = 0.001), but less cumulative morphine (0.13 ± 0.13 vs 1.79 ± 0.23 mg/kg, p < 0.0001). Morphine patients on invasive ventilation required increased support (0 vs 31.58%, p = 0.02).
Conclusion:
Dexmedetomidine is effective and safe for sedation and analgesia during therapeutic hypothermia. It reduced total opioid usage, with no increased incidence of adverse events.
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