DOES THE USE OF DEXMEDETOMIDINE AFFECT THE OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH
SEVERE COVID-19?
Abstract
Objective: Dexmedetomidine (DEX) is a highly selective α2-adrenoceptor
agonist that is increasingly used in the daily practice of intensive
care units (ICUs) with its sedative, analgesic, anxiolytic, and
immunoprotective effects. In this study, we aimed to analyze whether
Dexmedetomidine improves the outcomes in patients treated in ICU.
Design: A retrospective study Place and Duration of Study: Intensive
care units (ICU) of Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital,
Sakarya, Turkey, from October 2020 to February 2021 Methodology: The
medical records of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. We
included 134 patients in the study, in 45 of whom the treatment regimen
included dexmedetomidine and 89 of whom were not treated with
dexmedetomidine. Patients treated with DEX were defined as the “patient
group”, whereas patients not treated with DEX were defined as “control
group” and the parameters were compared between these groups. Obtained
data were analyzed in the biostatistical program. Results: The median
age of all patients was 64 and 62.7% of them were male. No significant
difference was found between the groups in terms of median ages
(p>0.05). The patients with diabetes mellitus (DM),
congestive heart failure (CHF), and undergoing insulin treatment were
significantly less treated with DEX (p=0.04, p=0.03, and p=0.016
respectively) whereas intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy was
found to be more frequently applied to the patient group (p=0.043). The
median duration between ICU admission and the time of intubation was 4
days for the control group whereas it was 1 day for the patient group
and the difference was strongly significant (p=0.000,
p<0.001). The other analyses concerning lab parameters,
mortality rates, intubation rates and durations, applied treatments, and
comorbidities revealed no significant difference between the groups.
Conclusion: Our study revealed that DEX therapy can help us to gain time
before intubation however can not reduce mortality rates in severe
COVID-19.