The measurement of dexmedetomidine for sedation in intensive care patients - The measurement of dexmedetomidine in intensive care patients

In adults, Background. There is little information about the relationship between dose and plasma concentration of dexmedetomidine DEX in critically ill patients. Methods. Plasma DEX concentrations of 67 samples from 34 patients in an intensive care unit were measured and the correlation coefficient between dose and plasma concentration was estimated. Results. Among the patients, 20, 58.8 percent, of the 34 received DEX at 0.20 0.83 micro g kg h, and in 40 of the 67 samples for which DEX had been administered, this occurred for a median duration of 18.5 h, range, 3 87 h. The range of the DEX plasma concentration was 0.22 2.50 ng ml. The plasma DEX concentration was moderately correlated with the administered dose, r 0.653, P less than 0.01. The approximate linear equation was Y 0.171X 0.254. The range of Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale was 0 to minus 5. Conclusions. We concluded that, with a dosage of 0.2 0.83 micro g kg h, the patients in this setting could obtain an effective DEX concentration of 0.22 2.50 ng ml. In addition, the plasma DEX concentration was moderately correlated with the administered dose, r 0.653, P less than 0.01. In infant, Methods. All patients admitted to our PICU for 5 months were eligible for inclusion in the study. Results. We measured the plasma DEX concentration in 203 samples from 45 patients. Of these, 96 samples collected from 27 patients less than 2 years old were included in this study. All patients received DEX at 0.12 1.40 micro g kg h. The median administration duration was 87.6 hours, range 6 540 hours. Plasma DEX concentration ranged from 0.07 to 3.17 ng m and was not correlated with the administered dose, r 0.273, P 0.007. Conclusions. In infants, plasma DEX concentration did not exhibit any correlation with administered dose, which is not a reliable means of obtaining optimal plasma concentration.