ABSTRACT:

Relieving anxiety is one of the cornerstones in premedication, more importantly in paediatric age group. Midazolam is a short acting benzodiazepine which is used as an anxiolytic during premedication. Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective alpha 2 adrenoreceptor agonist which can be used for analgesia, sedation and anxiolysis. We compared the effects of intranasal dexmedetomidine and midazolam as a premedication in children undergoing surgery under general anaesthesia. METHODS :

60 children, 2-12 years of age, ASA class I were included, divided into 2 groups , 30 each in Group D who received 1mcg/kg dexmedetomidineintranasally and Group M who received 0.3 mg/kg midazolam intranasally 30 min prior to surgery as a premedication, using Intranasal Mucosal Atomization Device. Vitals, sedation score (University of Michigan scale) were recorded every 10 min and child parent separation score at 30th min.

RESULTS :

Median Sedation scores for Group D and Group M at 10th , 20th and 30th min were 1(0-1), 1.5 (1-4), 2.5 (1-4) and 1 (0-1), 1 (1-2), 2 (1-2) respectively. The sedation scores at 20th min were statistically significant between the 2 groups with p value of 0.006. Child parent separation score was better with Group D (p <0.001). There were no adverse effects like hypotension, bradycardia and respiratory depression.

CONCLUSIONS :

Patients receiving dexmedetomidine had better sedation scores compared to midazolam. The child parent separation score was also better with dexmedetomidine