Role of dexmedetomidine in brain injury: a systematic review
摘要
Brain injuries are major health concern worldwide, that have debilitating effects on patients and affect patients’ quality of life; therefore, we are in urgent need of identifying medications that have neuroprotective properties and help to maintain the patients’ cognitive function. Dexmedetomidine is a sedative medication commonly used in ICU situations; recent studies show that it may have neuroprotective properties via different mechanisms.
AimThe aim of this article is to review available literature regarding the impact of using dexmedetomidine in various types of brain injury.
MethodA systematic review of the published papers on the PubMed and google scholar that investigated the effects of dexmedetomidine on patients with different brain injuries was employed.
ResultsA total of 17 papers were included in this review, of which 1 was a case report, 6 were animal studies, 1 was a retrospective descriptive study, 2 were retrospective cohorts, 5 were randomized controlled trials, 1 was a scoping review, and 1 was a meta-analysis. These papers demonstrated the effects of dexmedetomidine on patients with traumatic brain injury, intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic brain injury, status epilepticus, and on patients undergoing craniocerebral surgeries.
ConclusionDexmedetomidine is a very promising drug to be used in different types of brain injuries and in craniocerebral surgeries because it has demonstrated impressive neuroprotective properties by a variety of mechanisms.
Graphical Abstract