Decrease Emergence Agitation and Provide Pain Relief for Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2008-05-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Pediatric tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy) is a brief but painful surgery
carried out in children who very often also present with obstructive sleep apnea. To provide
pain relief, i.e. analgesia, current practice relies on opioids , e.g., morphine or fentanyl.
These narcotics are known to depress respiration and to increase the incidence of
post-operative nausea and vomiting. These side effects are worrisome in this patient cohort.
An alternative medication, dexmedetomidine, may have an opiate sparing effect and has a high
safety profile in adults as well as in sedation in children. The purpose of this study is to
determine if intravenous dexmedetomidine given as an infusion during general anesthesia for
tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy reduces the incidence and severity of emergence
agitation, improves analgesia and reduces nausea and vomiting in the 60 minutes following
surgery.
Phase:
Phase 3
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey