Prophylactic Precedex prevented delirium in ICU patients
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Quick Take: This small (n=100), two-center, industry-funded (Hospira) study showed a remarkable 80% prevention rate of ICU delirium (compared to 20% with placebo) with patients given dexmedetomidine prophylactically during their ICU stay. Although associated with poor outcomes in critically ill patients, delirium is not known to be an independent predictor of those outcomes. This small study was not designed or powered to detect improved outcomes other than delirium (mortality, ventilator days, etc.) in the patients whose delirium was prevented -- and it did not show any. Nevertheless, delirium is undesirable in itself. If subsequently validated, this finding could be practice-changing, with a push for dexmedetomidine to be "bundled" into routine ICU care. Dexmedetomidine is already considered preferable to benzodiazepines for ICU sedation.
Prophylactic Precedex prevented delirium in ICU patients
Prophylactic Precedex prevented delirium in…
Prophylactic Precedex prevented delirium in ICU patients
Quick Take: This small (n=100), two-center, industry-funded (Hospira) study showed a remarkable 80% prevention rate of ICU delirium (compared to 20% with placebo) with patients given dexmedetomidine prophylactically during their ICU stay. Although associated with poor outcomes in critically ill patients, delirium is not known to be an independent predictor of those outcomes. This small study was not designed or powered to detect improved outcomes other than delirium (mortality, ventilator days, etc.) in the patients whose delirium was prevented -- and it did not show any. Nevertheless, delirium is undesirable in itself. If subsequently validated, this finding could be practice-changing, with a push for dexmedetomidine to be "bundled" into routine ICU care. Dexmedetomidine is already considered preferable to benzodiazepines for ICU sedation.