A recent study published in ‘BMC anesthesiology’ concluded that dexmedetomidine intravenously (IV) might be used as an anesthetic adjuvant in patients undertaking transnasal transseptal transsphenoidal surgery.

RyungA Kang et al. investigated whether dexmedetomidine could lessen stress responses in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery.

On the whole, 46 patients were randomized to be given a continuous infusion of 0.9% saline or dexmedetomidine in 23 patients each. Soon after the initiation of general anesthesia, the dexmedetomidine group received a loading dose of 1 mcg/kg dexmedetomidine over 10 min and then, a maintenance dose of 0.2–0.7 mcg/kg/h. Before the end of surgery, the control group received 0.9% saline at the same volume until 30 min. The serum levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glucose were evaluated before the surgery (T1) and towards the end of drug infusion (T2). Primary outcome was the varying norepinephrine levels between the 2 time points.

Variation (T2-T1 values) in perioperative serum norepinephrine levels were significantly greater in the dexmedetomidine group as compared to the control group. No significant intergroup differences were observed in the varying levels of epinephrine. Lesser patients in dexmedetomidine group needed rescue analgesics at the recovery area as compared to control group.