ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of dexcedetomidine on the postoperative delirium in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis undergoing spine surgery. Methods 160 patients (7-16 years of age) with idiopathic scoliosis undergoing posterior spinal fusion were randomly divided in to two groups. Group SS (n=80) included patients anesthetized with sevorane and sufentanil, group SSD (n=80) included patients anesthetized with sevorane,sufentanil and dexcedetomidine. In the latter group, dexcedetomidine was administered as a continuous infusion of 0.2 ug/h started after the induction of anesthesia without a loading dose. Sevorane was adjusted to maintain the bispectral index (BIS) number at 40-60 and vasoactive drugs was adjusted to maintain the mean arterial pressure (MAP) at 65-75 mmHg. The amount of anesthetic, the time of anesthesia recovery,restlessness during recovery and postoperative delirium were recorded. Results The amount of sevorane, the incidence of restlessness during recovery and the incidence of postoperative delirium were significantly lower in the group SSD than in group SS ( <0.05) . Conclusion The perioperative infusion of 0.2 ug/h dexcedetomidine can decrease the incidence of postoperative delirium in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis undergoing spine surgery.