Cardiorespiratory stability in critically ill preterm infants following dexmedetomidine initiation.

Abstract

To evaluate cardiorespiratory status in preterm infants receiving dexmedetomidine using high-resolution physiologic data. We analyzed preterm infants with continuous heart rate (HR) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) data for 24 hours preceding and 48 hours following dexmedetomidine initiation. Invasive arterial blood pressure (ABP), when available, was analyzed. In 100 infants with mean gestational age of 28 weeks and high baseline illness severity, mean HR decreased from 152 to 141 beats per minute while mean SpO2 increased from 91% to 93% in the 48 hours after dexmedetomidine initiation (p<0.01). In 57 infants with continuous ABP monitoring, mean ABP increased from 40 to 42 mmHg (p=0.01). Vasoactive-inotropic support increased before and after initiation. We observed cardiorespiratory changes in critically ill preterm infants following dexmedetomidine initiation; mean HR decreased and mean SpO2 increased in the 48 hours after initiation. In a subset, mean ABP increased along with vasoactive-inotropic support.