ArticleThe journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG2012
Dexmedetomidine versus standard therapy with fentanyl for sedation in mechanically ventilated premature neonates.
Article in The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06067958 (Intranasal Dexmedetomidine for Pain Management During Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity), which is not on this map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Intranasal Dexmedetomidine for Pain Management During Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity: a Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fetal, Preterm, and Term Neonate Exposure to Remifentanil: A Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety.Paediatric drugs · 2023Pooled it
- Clonidine for sedation and analgesia for neonates receiving mechanical ventilation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Population Pharmacokinetics of Dexmedetomidine in Infants.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2017Trial
- Analgesia and sedation in premature infants receiving invasive ventilation: a systematic scoping review.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Nationwide variability in sedation, analgesia, and developmental care practices during neonatal therapeutic hypothermia: A French national survey.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Analysis of the Impact of Dexmedetomidine Use in Very Preterm Infants on Long-Term Neurodevelopmental Outcomes.Cureus · 2025Article
- Dexmedetomidine: Shifting Paradigms in Neonatal Sedation and Pain Control.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Dexmedetomidine in neonates: utilisation trends and safety profile over time in a neonatal intensive care unit.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Observational
- Intranasal Analgesia in Preterm and Term Neonates.Paediatric drugs · 2025Review
- Dexmedetomidine for Less Invasive Surfactant Administration: A Pilot Study.Paediatric drugs · 2025Article
- Visceral Pain in Preterm Infants with Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Underlying Mechanisms and Implications for Treatment.Paediatric drugs · 2025Review
- Use of dexmedetomidine during mechanical ventilation in extremely preterm and extremely low birth weight neonates receiving morphine: A single-center retrospective study.Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2024Article
- Effectiveness and Safety of Dexmedetomidine in Neonates With Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Undergoing Therapeutic Hypothermia.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2024Article
- Intranasal dexmedetomidine reduces pain scores in preterm infants during retinopathy of prematurity screening.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- Use of Dexmedetomidine and Opioids in Hospitalized Preterm Infants.JAMA network open · 2023Observational
- Cardioprotective Effects of Dexmedetomidine in an Oxidative-Stress In Vitro Model of Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Protective Effect of Dexmedetomidine against Hyperoxia-Damaged Cerebellar Neurodevelopment in the Juvenile Rat.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Dexmedetomidine: An Alternative to Pain Treatment in Neonatology.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The Use of Dexmedetomidine in Preterm Infants: A Single Academic Center Experience.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2023Article
- Non-invasive ventilation in neonates: a review of current literature.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the efficacy and safety of dexmedetomidine and fentanyl for sedation in mechanically ventilated premature neonates.
methodsThis was a retrospective, observational case-control study in a level III neonatal intensive care unit. Forty-eight premature neonates requiring mechanical ventilation were included. Patients received fentanyl (n=24) or dexmedetomidine (n=24) for pain or sedation. Each group also received fentanyl and lorazepam boluses as needed for agitation. The primary outcomes were efficacy and frequency of acute adverse events associated with each drug. Days on mechanical ventilation, stooling patterns, feeding tolerance, and neurologic outcomes were also evaluated.
resultsThere were no significant differences in baseline demographics between the dexmedetomidine and fentanyl patients. Patients in the dexmedetomidine group required less adjunctive sedation and had more days free of additional sedation in comparison to fentanyl (54.1% vs. 16.5%, p<0.0001). There were no differences in hemodynamic parameters between the 2 groups. Duration of mechanical ventilation was shorter in the dexmedetomidine group (14.4 vs. 28.4 days, p<0.001). Meconium passage (7.5 vs. 22.4 days, p<0.0002) and time from initiation to achievement of full enteral feeds (26.8 vs. 50.8 days, p<0.0001) were shorter in the dexmedetomidine group. Incidence of culture-positive sepsis was lower in the dexmedetomidine group (48% vs. 88%). The incidence of either severe intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia was not statistically significantly reduced (2% vs. 7%).
conclusionsDexmedetomidine was safe and effective for sedation in the premature neonates included in this study. Prospective randomized-controlled trials are needed before routine use of dexmedetomidine can be recommended.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.