Prevention of Bradycardia during Spinal Anesthesia under Dexmedetomidine Sedation in Older Adults

Older adults exhibit reduced physiological responses to beta-adrenergic stimulation and parasympathetic inhibition. This study aimed to investigate the effect of reducing the incidence of bradycardia in the atropine and ephedrine pretreatment group compared to the control group in older adults who received spinal anesthesia with intravenous dexmedetomidine. Overall, 102 older adults aged over 65 years were randomly divided into three groups, and saline (control group), atropine at 0.5 mg (atropine group), and ephedrine at 8 mg (ephedrine group) were administered intravenously to each group as pretreatment. Immediately after spinal anesthesia, dexmedetomidine loading and study drug injections were commenced. The primary outcome was the incidence of bradycardia (<50 beats per min) within 60 min following dexmedetomidine loading. The incidence of bradycardia requiring atropine treatment was significantly higher in the control group than in the atropine and ephedrine groups (27.3% vs. 6.1% and 8.8%, respectively; p = 0.035), and no difference was noted between the atropine and ephedrine groups. Therefore, if ephedrine or atropine is selected and used according to the patient’s condition and clinical situation, it may be helpful in preventing bradycardia during spinal anesthesia using dexmedetomidine in older patients.