Anesth Pain Med.  2010 Jul;5(3):177-182.

Clinical applications of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist

• Ryu J

Abstract

alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists have been used successfully to treat patients with hypertension and patients withdrawing from long-term abuse of drugs or alcohol. alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists have also proved to be a clinically useful adjunct in clinical anesthetic practice as well as in chronic pain therapy because they have both anesthetic and analgesic-sparing activity. In addition, they have a role in providing hemodynamic stability in patients who are at risk of perioperative ischemia. Dexmedetomidine, a novel selective alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist, has been registered for use as a sedative-analgeic in a variety of clinical setting including monitored anesthesia care and intensive care unit. However, the side-effects of hypotension and bradycardia have limited the routine use of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists perioporeatively. In this review, we discuss the pharmacology of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists and their useful applications in anesthesia and intensive care unit.

Keyword

alpha2 agonist; Dexmedetomidine; Intensive care unit; Monitored anesthesia care; Sedation

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia
Bradycardia
Chronic Pain
Dexmedetomidine
Hemodynamics
Humans
Hypertension
Hypotension
Intensive Care Units
Ischemia
Dexmedetomidine