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Dexmedetomidine and Outcomes of Cardiac Surgery (DOCS)

Perioperative Infusion of Dexmedetomidine Improves Outcomes of Cardiovascular Surgery

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02237495
Acronym
DOCS
Enrollment
1100
Registered
2014-09-11
Start date
2014-04-09
Completion date
2018-03-31
Last updated
2020-07-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Coronary Artery Disease, Heart Valve Diseases

Brief summary

Cardiac surgery is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular and other complications. The investigators hypothesized that perioperative infusion of dexmedetomidine may reduce the incidence of complications and mortality following cardiovascular surgery.

Detailed description

There are about 694,000 open-heart surgeries performed in US each year. The major complication rates for valve plus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure are as high as 30.1% in Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) reports. Postoperative delirium, infection, acute renal failure (ARF) and major adverse cardiocerebral events (MACE) which include permanent or transient stroke, coma, perioperative myocardial infarction (MI), heart block and cardiac arrest represent the major postoperative complications. These complications translate into increased mortality and prolonged hospital stays with estimated costs exceeding $20 billion annually.6 The etiologies of these adverse events are multifactorial, but one major contributing factor is the surgical stress responses that result in increasing plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, with consequent myocardial oxygen supply demand imbalance and myocardial ischemia. More than 50% of all perioperative complications are related to adverse cardiovascular events. The alpha-2 receptor agonists (clonidine, dexmedetomidine) currently used in clinical practice have many desirable effects that may provide myocardial protection including analgesia, anxiolysis, inhibition of central sympathetic outflow and reduction of systemic norepinephrine release that improve hemodynamic stability and positively affect myocardial oxygen supply and demand. The most widely studied alpha-2 agonist is clonidine, a long-acting partial agonist with an alpha-2 to alpha-1 selectivity ratio of 39:1. However, dexmedetomidine is a highly selective, shorter-acting intravenous alpha-2 agonist with an alpha-2 to alpha-1 selectivity ratio of 1300:1. Multiple studies have reported that dexmedetomidine has a protective effect on specific organs including heart, brain, kidney and lungs. In addition, dexmedetomidine has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties decreasing mortality and attenuating plasma cytokine concentrations in laboratory animals exposed to endotoxin in a dose-dependent fashion. The investigators hypothesized that dexmedetomidine may provide myocardial, brain, renal and immune function protection for cardiovascular surgical patients. The specific aim of this study was to investigate whether the perioperative use of dexmedetomidine is associated with improved outcomes and a decreased incidence in postoperative mortality, MACE or other complications in patients undergoing open-heart surgery.

Interventions

DRUGdexmedetomidine

dexmedetomidine with the dose of 0.4 ug/kg/h is continuously infused right after anesthesia induction and lasts for 12 hrs.

DRUGplacebo

The vehicle of dexmedetomidine, normal saline is continuously infused right after anesthesia induction and lasts for 12 hrs with the same rate of the treatment arm.

Sponsors

Xijing Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Provide written informed consent * Are \> 18 years of age * Elective cardiac surgery with CPB, when the surgeon plans to do valve and/or CABG surgery

Exclusion criteria

* Emergent cardiac surgery * Other than CABG and/or Valve surgery * off-pump or robotic surgery * Surgery requiring deep hypothermic circulatory arrest or involving the thoracic aorta * Life expectancy \< 1 year * Preop severe liver or renal dysfunction, with replacement therapy required * Patients with IABP or with cardiogenic shock * Severe dehydrate or dystrophia or Hb \< 10 g/dl * History of any alpha-2 receptor agonists allergy. * Refuse to provide written informed consent * Diagnosed with mental illness

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
1-year all cause of mortality and major postoperative complications1 year after operationPostoperative delirium, infection, acute renal failure (ARF) and major adverse cardiocerebral events (MACE) which includes permanent or transient stroke, coma, perioperative myocardial infarction (MI), heart block and cardiac arrest represent major postoperative complications.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
All cause mortality and major complicationsThe participants will be tightly observed for the duration of hospital stay, an expected average of 10 days and at 30 days after operation,Infection, renal failure, need for dialysis, and major adverse cardiocerebral events (MACE) which includes permanent or transient stroke, coma, perioperative myocardial infarction (MI), heart block and cardiac arrest represent major complications

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
postoperative hospital staythe number of days between the operation and discharge, an expected average of 12 daysRecord the time of post operative stay
ICU-staythe number of days the patients stay in the ICU after surgery, an expected average of 3 daysIt is the length of stay in ICU
Incidence of prolonged ventilationthe duration of intubation is the time from trachea intubation to extubation, an expected average of 20 hoursProlonged ventilation is defined as patients remaining on the ventilator for more than 48 hours

Countries

China

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026