Clinical Research Directory

Dexmedetomidine and Agitation After Nasal Surgery

The main objective of study is to compare dexmedetomidine single bolus dose before extubation with continuous infusion as regards their efficacy in mitigating the incidence of emergence agitation in obese adults undergoing nasal surgery.

Effect of Opioid-Free vs Opioid-Based Anesthesia on Postoperative Pain and Emergence Agitation in Children Undergoing Cleft Surgery

Orofacial clefts are among the most common congenital malformations, affecting approximately 1 in 700-1500 live births worldwide. They are associated not only with aesthetic concerns but also with functional impairments in feeding, speech, hearing, and dentition, and may be accompanied by other systemic malformations, often requiring multiple surgical procedures and long-term multidisciplinary care. Although cognitive development is preserved, the psychosocial impact on both children and families can be significant. Anesthesia in children with clefts presents specific challenges. Airway management is often more difficult due to anatomical variations, particularly in syndromic patients and those under 1 year of age. Immature organ systems affect drug metabolism, requiring careful dose adjustment. Preoperative anxiety and stress responses are common and may contribute to complications such as laryngospasm and bronchospasm. In the postoperative period, emergence agitation (EA) and emergence delirium (ED) are frequent, with reported incidence up to 80%. These conditions are characterized by restlessness, inconsolability, and disorientation, and may result in self-injury or disruption of surgical repairs. Differentiating agitation from pain is challenging in young children due to limited communication abilities. Validated observational tools such as CHIPPS, PAEDS, and Cravero scales are used for routine clinical assessment of pain and EA/ED, although their subjective nature may limit accuracy. Therefore, evaluation of the perioperative serum cortisol, alpha-amylase, and neuropeptide Y levels will be used. These biomarkers reflect activation of the physiological stress response and indirectly indicate the presence and intensity of pain. Pain management requires a multimodal approach. While opioids remain standard, their use is associated with adverse effects such as respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, and delayed recovery. Consequently, opioid-free (OF) strategies using different anesthetics, including ketamine and dexmedetomidine have gained attention. This prospective randomized clinical trial will compare opioid-based anesthesia with an opioid-free protocol in children undergoing cleft surgery. A total of 90 patients age of 3 months-7 years will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio. The opioid group will receive fentanyl, while the OF group will receive ketamine and dexmedetomidine; both groups will receive propofol, vecuronium, sevoflurane, and nitrous oxide. Primary outcomes are postoperative pain (CHIPPS) and emergence agitation (PAEDS, Cravero). Pain will be assessed at 5 min, 15 min, 1, 2, 12, and 24 h after extubation, whereas emergence agitation will be evaluated at 5 min, 15 min, 1 h, and 2 h post-extubation. While these scales are routinely used in clinical practice, their subjective nature necessitates additional objective assessment. Therefore, secondary outcomes include evaluation of perioperative stress markers (cortisol, alpha-amylase, neuropeptide Y) and adverse events (nausea, vomiting, pruritus, constipation, respiratory depression, altered consciousness) within 24 h. Procedures will be standardized, with morning surgeries to minimize circadian variations of the biomarkers, performed by the same team. Blood samples will be collected before and after intravenous induction. Postoperative analgesia will include paracetamol and NSAIDs, with fentanyl as rescue therapy. The study hypothesis is that opioid-free anesthesia will provide comparable or superior analgesia, reduce the incidence of emergence agitation, attenuate the stress response, and decrease opioid-related adverse effects, thereby improving overall perioperative safety and recovery in pediatric patients undergoing cleft surgery. The particular value of this study lies in the subgroup of children who will undergo at least two surgical procedures within the observation period. In these patients, each child will be exposed to both anesthetic protocols in separate procedures-once according to the randomly assigned regimen and the second time according to the alternative protocol. In this way, each patient serves as their own control, allowing for a more precise comparison of outcomes with a substantial reduction in inter-individual variability. This approach largely eliminates individual differences such as age, body weight, baseline hemodynamic status, individual sensitivity to anesthetics and analgesics, as well as variability in stress response and pain perception. Such a design enhances the internal validity of the study and enables a more reliable interpretation of the results.

WashIn /WashOut Procedure To Prevent Agitation During Recovery After Inhalational Anesthesia With Sevoflurane

Inhalation anesthesia is the most frequently used technique and is performed in around 70% of surgeries worldwide. Sevoflurane is the most frequently used halogenated anesthetic and is used in 2/3 of the cases. The anesthetic strength of inhalation agents was established in the classic work of Eger and colleagues who determined the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of an inhaled anesthetic at atmospheric pressure, necessary to prevent a motor reaction in response to a pain stimulus in 50% of patients. Agitation is a frequent anesthesia complications and it not only lengthens the period of post anesthetic awakening and need for advance monitoring of the patient, but may be a predisposing factor in the development of postoperative delirium (POD) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) which are independent predictors of increased mortality, prolonged treatment in the ICU and hospital, and prolonged social adaptation of the operated patients.(The ability of the patient to serve themselves independently.). There is a fairly popular point of view that there is no specific prophylaxis or treatment of postoperative agitation. However, a variant of anesthesia induction with sevoflurane was recently proposed, which reduced the frequency of agitation in children from 24.7% to 4.4%. The technique consisted in interrupting anesthesia at the moment of loss of consciousness, awakening the patient and subsequently performing re-induction. Since this technique might be time consuming in the busiest period of a surgical theatre and not safe if performed with the airways still unsecured it is advisable to shift the Wash In/Wash Out procedure to the stage of awakening at the end of surgery.

Evaluation of The Relationship Between Perioperative Hypothermia and Emergence Agitation

The main aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between perioperative hypothermia and postoperative emergence agitation.

Efficacy of Dexmedetomidine vs Midazolam for Early Extubation in Critically Ill Agitated Patients Undergoing Weaning

Comparison of effect of dexmedetomidine and midazolam in icu patients who put on mechanical ventilation and show agitation on weaning.Selection of better agent minimises the drug related side effects like respiratory depression but also helps in weaning for early extubation,give hemodynamic stability and reduce morbidity and mortality in icu..