Dex is a great, relatively clean sedative that is not perfect by any means. It does drop BP and it does drop HR. Some patients are very sensitive to it and do not tolerate it - mostly the elderly and those with conduction disease. THAT being said, its very useful as an adjunct. I often leave it on for vent weaning and extubation purposes..."The last man standing" of the sedatives
I’m getting old enough to remember why clonidine sucks.
You never know what it’s going to do - drop someone’s pressure, raise it, do nothing, sedate them, activate them…. It has a 5 minute half life in some people, in others it’s 5 hours.
It’s an unpredictable med. We’re gonna push it down the NG? The patches are fine. But we don’t like long acting meds in the icu that much… what dose? Who knows.
Some patients don’t tolerate dex. But I can turn it off. I give clonidine- the patient owns it for however long.
I’m not a huge dex fan, especially for ETOH w/d. But at least I can stop the pump.
Have you ever used it as an infusion? Apparently it is available in the US for this use off label, but I have never seen it done — although it’s apparently quite common in Europe and elsewhere.
Dex is a great, relatively clean sedative that is not perfect by any means. It does drop BP and it does drop HR. Some patients are very sensitive to it and do not tolerate it - mostly the elderly and those with conduction disease. THAT being said, its very useful as an adjunct. I often leave it on for vent weaning and extubation purposes..."The last man standing" of the sedatives
I’m getting old enough to remember why clonidine sucks.
You never know what it’s going to do - drop someone’s pressure, raise it, do nothing, sedate them, activate them…. It has a 5 minute half life in some people, in others it’s 5 hours.
It’s an unpredictable med. We’re gonna push it down the NG? The patches are fine. But we don’t like long acting meds in the icu that much… what dose? Who knows.
Some patients don’t tolerate dex. But I can turn it off. I give clonidine- the patient owns it for however long.
I’m not a huge dex fan, especially for ETOH w/d. But at least I can stop the pump.
Have you ever used it as an infusion? Apparently it is available in the US for this use off label, but I have never seen it done — although it’s apparently quite common in Europe and elsewhere.