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Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Emergence Agitation and Postoperative Behavior Changes in Children

Effect of Single-dose Dexmedetomidine on Emergence Agitation and Postoperative Behavior Changes After Sevoflurane Anesthesia in Children

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03596775
Enrollment
96
Registered
2018-07-24
Start date
2018-09-01
Completion date
2019-07-01
Last updated
2018-09-07

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

Conditions

Emergence Agitation

Brief summary

Emergence agitation (EA) is a dissociated state of consciousness in which the child is inconsolable, irritable, uncooperative, typically thrashing, crying, moaning, or incoherent. Although usually transient, it is not only an extremely distressing event for children, parents, and staff, but may also result in self-injury or the need for restraint. The prevalence in children appears to be between 10% and 80% depending upon the definition and measurement tools used and is more frequently observed in the pre-school age-group. A clear correlation has been found between EA and negative postoperative behavioral changes, including anxiety, eating and sleeping disorders, enuresis, fear of darkness, that may persist for an extended period of time affecting emotional and cognitive development.Currently, numerous interventions have been studied to manage EA after surgery. Among them, dexmedetomidine (DEX) as a kind of highly selective α2 adrenergic receptor agonist has been done to reduce EA in children. Unfortunately, no studies examined posthospitalization negative behaviour changes.

Detailed description

The high incidence of EA and postoperative behavioural changes has encouraged paediatric anaesthetists and researchers to study methods to improve the perioperative care of children. Dexmedetomidine is a selective alpha-2 receptor agonist with properties that make it attractive to pediatric use. It provides sedation and anxiolysis acting on these receptors in the locus ceruleus of the pons. It also exerts dose-dependent moderate primary analgesic effects through activation of alpha-2 adrenoreceptors in the dorsal spinal horn causing a subsequent decrease in substance P release. The study aims to explore whether a single low-dose dexmedetomidine in the perioperative period has a preventive effect on EA in children, and through short-term and long-term follow-up, to investigate the effect on post-hospitalization behavioural changes.

Interventions

DRUGDexmedetomidine

Children in Dexmedetomidine group receive intravenous dexmedetomidine 0.5 ug/kg over 10 minutes after induction of anesthesia.

DRUGsaline

Children in Control Comparator group receive intravenous saline 10ml over 10 minutes after induction of anesthesia.

Sponsors

Xuzhou Medical University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

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

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
2 Years to 7 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. Age between 2-7 years old 2. American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) score of I or II 3. Selective ear, nose, and throat surgery under general anaesthesia with sevoflurane

Exclusion criteria

1. Emergency surgery 2. were intubated before induction of anaesthesia or not planned for extubation after anaesthesia 3. had critical illness with haemodynamic instability, active bleeding, cancer, cardiac diseases including arrhythmias, malignant hyperthermia 4. intellectual disability, or neurological illness with agitation-like symptoms 5. weighed more than 50 kg 6. were allergic to dexmedetomidine 7. The use of sedative or analgesic medications before surgery

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Incidence of EA as assessed by the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scalewithin 30 minutes after extubation in the post-anaesthesia care unitUse the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium (PAED) scale to record the incidence of EA.The score ranges from 0 to 20 points. A score of 10 or above is considered as EA.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain scores as assessed by the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scalewithin 30 minutes after extubation in the post-anaesthesia care unitUse the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale to record the pain scores. The score ranges from 0 to 10 points. A score of 4 or above is considered as pain.
Rescue analgesia and sedative drug consumptionwithin 30 minutes after extubation in the post-anaesthesia care unitRescue analgesia and sedative drug consumption in the post-anaesthesia care unit
Incidence of adverse eventswithin 30 minutes after extubation in the post-anaesthesia care unitIncidence of adverse events in the post-anaesthesia care unit
Post-hospitalization negative behaviour changes as assessed by the Post Hospitalisation Behaviour Questionnaire (PHBQ) scale1 day, 2 days,30 days post surgeryUse the Post Hospitalisation Behaviour Questionnaire (PHBQ) scale to record the incidence of Post-hospitalization negative behaviour changes.This consists of 27 items describing six subscales: general anxiety, separation anxiety, sleep anxiety, eating disturbances, aggression against authority and apathy/withdrawal.The possible answers were provided on a scale from 1 to 5 ('much less', 'less', 'unchanged', 'more' or 'much more' than before hospitalisation).A score of 0 was awarded if no negative behaviour was reported either before or after surgery.Total score was calculated by adding up all responses.

Countries

China

Contacts

Primary ContactJin Dong Liu, M.S
liujindong1818@163.com+86-13951355136

Outcome results

None listed

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