Low-dose Dexmedetomidine and Postoperative Delirium After Cardiac Surgery
Status:
Active, not recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Delirium is an acutely occurred and fluctuating cerebral dysfunction characterized with
inattention, altered consciousness, cognitive decline and/or abnormal perception. It is
common in the elderly after cardiac surgery and is associated with worse outcomes. Causes
leading to delirium are multifactorial but sleep disturbances remains an important one. In
previous studies, sedative-dose dexmedetomidine improves sleep quality in ICU patients with
mechanical ventilation; and low-dose dexmedetomidine improves sleep quality in postoperative
patients without mechanical ventilation. In recent studies of elderly after noncardiac
surgery, night-time infusion of low-dose dexmedetomidine reduces delirium and improves 2-year
survival. The investigators hypothesize that, for elderly patients after cardiac surgery,
night-time infusion of dexmedetomidine may also improve sleep quality, reduce delirium
development and improve 2-year survival.