Effects of Early Administration of Dexmedetomidine on Benzodiazepine Requirements of ICU Patients with Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome / 中国药师

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the effects of early administration of dexmedetomidine on benzodiazepine ( BZD) requirements of intensive care unit ( ICU) patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome ( AWS) .Methods:Totally 60 adult patients with severe AWS were chosen and randomly divided into groups A and group B with 30 patients in each .The patients in group A received benzodiazepine simultaneously with early administration of dexmedetomidine , and those in group B received only benzodiazepine .After the first admin-istration of dexmedetomidine , the 24-h cumulative BZD requirement , stay length in ICU and hospital , condition of mechanical ventila-tion and incidence of hypotension and bradycardia were recorded .Results:The 24-h cumulative BZD requirement in group A was obvi-ously lower than that in group B [(8.6 ±1.2) mg vs (25.6 ±4.9) mg, P<0.05].The number of patients with mechanical ventila-tion in the two groups was similar, while the duration of intubation in group A was less than that in group B [(24.9 3.1) h vs (48.8 6.9) h, P<0.05].Additionally, group A had higher incidence of bradycardia when compared with group B (57% vs 13%, P<0.05).Conclusion:As the adjuvant treatment for alcohol withdrawal syndrome , early administration of dexmedetomidine can notably decrease the benzodiazepine requirement of ICU patients .