European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation is often associated with hypertension and tachycardia because of the sympathoadrenal stimulation which is usually transient and lasts for 5-10 minutes. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the effects of single premedication dose of 1ug/kg body weight in 20 ml normal saline over 10 min I.V dexmedetomidine in attenuating pressor response to laryngoscopy & endotracheal intubation in elective surgeries under general anaesthesia. Materials and Methods: 60 patients aged 18-60 years old were assigned randomly into two groups. 10 min before induction these two groups received, group I (n=30): received 20 ml normal saline (NS) IV over 10 min, group II (n=30): received dexmedetomidine 1μg/kg body weight diluted to 20 ml NS IV over 10 min. After induction of anaesthesia, HR, SBP, DBP and MAP were recorded at various time intervals like before induction, after induction and 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min after laryngoscopy and intubation. Results: It was noted that in group I, following laryngoscopy and intubation, the mean rise in HR, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) were found to be 7.05 bpm(6.99%), 3.38mmHg(2.57%), 3.64 mmHg(4.28%) and 3.25 mmHg(3.26%) respectively, one minute after intubation. In group II, the mean of HR was increased by only 1.58bpm(1.74%) while  the SBP, DBP and MAP were decreased by 8.03 mmHg (5.7%), 0.25 mmHg(0.28%) and 3.05 mmHg(2.93%) respectively compared to basal values which was statistically significant (p=0.01). Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine (1μg/kg) IV, given 10 min before induction was seen to effectively attenuate the pressor response to laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation without any side effect.