Preventive effects of dexmedetomidine on postoperative agitation after sevoflurane anesthesia

Objective To evaluate the preventive effects of dexmedetomidine on postoperative agitation after sevoflurane anesthesia.Methods Sixty ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ patients,45-70 yearsold,receiving Esophageal cancer radical surgery were randomly divided into two groups:normal salinecontrol group (group C,30 cases) and dexmedetomidine group (group D,30 cases).After anesthesia was inducted with propofol,fontanil and cisatracurium,patients inhaled 2％-3％ sevoflurane for maintenance.Group D received 0.2 μg/(kg · h) dexmedetomidine from immediately after tracheal intubation until 1 h before the end of operation,and group C received the equal volume of normal saline.The incidence and the degree of postoperative agitation were recorded.Results The incidence of agitation was 33.3％ in group C and 10.0％ in group D(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Dexmedetomidine-assisted anesthesia can reduce the incidence of postanesthetic agitation in patients after sevoflurane anesthesia. Key words: Dexmedetomidine ;  Sevoflurane ;  General anesthesia ;  Postoperative agitation