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Discontinuation of prolonged infusions of dexmedetomidine in critically ill children with heart disease

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Abstract

Purpose

To describe changes in hemodynamic variables, sedation, and pain score after discontinuation of prolonged infusions of dexmedetomidine in a pediatric population of critically ill cardiac patients.

Methods

Retrospective case series of patients who received continuous infusions of dexmedetomidine for longer than 3 days in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit from 2008 to 2010.

Results

Sixty-two patients, age 5.2 months (range 0.3 months–17 years) and weight 5.1 kg (range 2.2–84 kg), were included. Thirty-nine patients (63%) were younger than 1 year of age. Median duration of dexmedetomidine infusion was 5.8 days (range 4–26 days) and median infusion dose was 0.71 μg/kg/h (range 0.2–2.1 μg/kg/h). Median weaning time and dose at discontinuation were 43 h (range 0–189 h) and 0.2 μg/kg/h (range 0.1–1.3 μg/kg/h). Tachycardia, transient hypertension and agitation were observed in 27, 35 and 27% of patients. Episodes of tachycardia were more frequent in children older than 1 year of age (61 vs. 8%, p < 0.001), patients who received dexmedetomidine for 4 days when compared to those who received 5 days or longer (48 vs. 17%, p = 0.011), and patients whose infusion was discontinued abruptly (42 vs. 14%, p = 0.045). Tachyarrhythmias were seen in nine patients (15%) after discontinuation of the dexmedetomidine infusion. Adequate sedation and analgesia scores at the moment of infusion discontinuation were seen in 90 and 88% of patients, respectively.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that tachycardia, transient hypertension, and agitation are frequently observed in pediatric cardiac intensive care unit patients after discontinuing prolonged dexmedetomidine infusions.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was made possible by grant number 5UL1 RR024153-04 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR or NIH. Information on NCRR is available at http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/. Information on Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise can be obtained from http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/overview-translational.asp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Room 4552, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, One Children’s Hospital Drive, 4401 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, USA

    Nelson H. Burbano, Andrea V. Otero, Richard A. Orr & Ricardo A. Munoz

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Donald E. Berry

Authors
  1. Nelson H. Burbano
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  2. Andrea V. Otero
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  3. Donald E. Berry
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  5. Ricardo A. Munoz
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Correspondence to Nelson H. Burbano.

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Burbano, N.H., Otero, A.V., Berry, D.E. et al. Discontinuation of prolonged infusions of dexmedetomidine in critically ill children with heart disease. Intensive Care Med 38, 300–307 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-011-2441-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-011-2441-8

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