Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May;53(2):127-132.
doi: 10.4068/cmj.2017.53.2.127. Epub 2017 May 25.

The Effect of Perineural Administration of Dexmedetomidine on Narcotic Consumption and Pain Intensity in Patients Undergoing Femoral Shaft Fracture Surgery; A Randomized Single-Blind Clinical Trial

Elham Memary  1 , Alireza Mirkheshti  1 , Ali Dabbagh  2 , Mehrdad Taheri  1 , Aida Khadempour  1 , Sadegh Shirian  3   4
Affiliations

The Effect of Perineural Administration of Dexmedetomidine on Narcotic Consumption and Pain Intensity in Patients Undergoing Femoral Shaft Fracture Surgery; A Randomized Single-Blind Clinical Trial

Elham Memary et al. Chonnam Med J. 2017 May.

Abstract

Dexmedetomidine is a selective α-2 adrenoceptor agonist with anxiolytic, sedative, and analgesic properties that prolongs analgesia and decreases opioid-related side effects when used in neuraxial and perineural areas as a local anesthetics adjuvant. The current study was designed to evaluate the effects of a single perineural administration of dexmedetomidine without local anesthetics on narcotic consumption and pain intensity in patients with femoral shaft fractures undergoing surgery. This prospective randomized single-blind clinical trial was conducted in patients undergoing femoral fracture shaft surgery. Based on block permuted randomization, the patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 100µg dexmedetomidine, for a femoral nerve block without any local anesthetics. Total intraoperative opioid consumption, postoperative opioid consumption, visual analogue score (VAS) for pain, and hemodynamic parameters were recorded and compared. Finally the data from 60 patients with a mean age of 30.4±12.3 were analyzed (90% male). There were no significant differences between the baseline characteristics of the two groups (p>0.05). The mean total consumption of narcotics was reduced during induction and maintenance of anesthesia in the intervention group (p<0.05). The amount of postoperative narcotics required showed a significant difference in the intervention group compared with the control group (p<0.05). It is likely that perineural administration of dexmedetomidine significantly not only reduced intra and postoperative narcotic requirement but also decreased postoperative pain intensity in patients undergoing femoral shaft surgery. Femoral blockade by dexmedetomidine can provide excellent analgesia while minimizing the side-effects of opioids.

Keywords: Dexmedetomidine; Narcotics; Nerve block; Pain management; Propofol.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: None declared.

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1. Consort table showing participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mulroy MF, Larkin KL, Batra MS, Hodgson PS, Owens BD. Femoral nerve block with 0.25% or 0.5% bupivacaine improves postoperative analgesia following outpatient arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament repair. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2001;26:24–29. - PubMed
    1. Fletcher AK, Rigby AS, Heyes FL. Three-in-one femoral nerve block as analgesia for fractured neck of femur in the emergency department: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2003;41:227–233. - PubMed
    1. Williams BA, Kentor ML, Vogt MT, Williams JP, Chelly JE, Valalik S, et al. Femoral-sciatic nerve blocks for complex outpatient knee surgery are associated with less postoperative pain before same-day discharge: a review of 1,200 consecutive cases from the period 1996-1999. Anesthesiology. 2003;98:1206–1213. - PubMed
    1. Joshi GP. Multimodal analgesia techniques and postoperative rehabilitation. Anesthesiol Clin North America. 2005;23:185–202. - PubMed
    1. Lin TF, Yeh YC, Lin FS, Wang YP, Lin CJ, Sun WZ, et al. Effect of combining dexmedetomidine and morphine for intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. Br J Anaesth. 2009;102:117–122. - PubMed