The Effect of Intravenous Dexmedetomidine Versus Intravenous Lidocaine on the Emergence Agitation After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery. A Prospective, Randomized, Double-blind Controlled Trial.

Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is a common operation for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) when medical therapy alone is insufficient .

Early recovery from general anesthesia is accompanied by agitation, confusion, disorientation, and violent behavior, which is known as Emergence Agitation (EA). This post-anesthetic issue occurs in the early stages of General Anesthesia (GA) recovery, posing challenges in terms of both patient recovery delay and the complexities associated with assessment and management.

The incidence of EA varies, from approximately 0.25% to 90.5%, with age, assessment tool used, definitions, anesthetic techniques, type of surgery, and time of EA assessment during recovery .

Because the airway is contaminated with blood and the nasal airway is closed with surgical packs. ENT surgery is linked to a higher incidence of emerging agitation after nasal surgery.

Although EA is commonly self-limited and happens within the first 30 min of stay in a postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and also can lead to disconnection of monitoring devices or intravenous catheters, physical damage, falling, increase in the risk of bleeding, and self-extubation .