SynthesisCritical care (London, England)2017
Clonidine for sedation in the critically ill: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Critical care (London, England), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Ketamine on Analgosedative Consumption in Critically Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The Annals of pharmacotherapy · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of dexmedetomidine and clonidine on the inflammatory response in critical illness: a systematic review of animal and human studies.Critical care (London, England) · 2019Pooled it
- Alpha2 agonists for sedation to produce better outcomes for adults with critical illness: a synopsis of the A2B RCT with cost-effectiveness and process evaluation.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Trial
- Propranolol As an Anxiolytic to Reduce the Use of Sedatives for Critically Ill Adults Receiving Mechanical Ventilation (PROACTIVE): An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial.Critical care medicine · 2025Trial
- Safety and tolerability study of clonidine for sedation in mechanically ventilated adult patients.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Article
- Clinical Efficacy and Risks of Clonidine Infusion for Sedation and Analgesia: A Narrative Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Clonidine for Management of Agitation in Delirious Patients.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Guanfacine Use in the ICU for Management of Sedation Weaning.Clinical drug investigation · 2025Review
- Article
- Ketamine as adjunctive or monotherapy for post-intubation sedation in patients with trauma on mechanical ventilation: A rapid review.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2023Review
- Sedation and Analgesia for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis in the Intensive Care Unit: Few Certainties, Many Questions Ahead.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Article
- Sedation in the Intensive Care Unit.Current anesthesiology reports · 2021Review
- Prevention of Withdrawal in Pediatric Patients Receiving Long-term Dexmedetomidine Infusions.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2021Article
- Challenges in Sedation Management in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: a Brief Review.Current anesthesiology reports · 2021Review
- High sedation needs of critically ill COVID-19 ARDS patients-A monocentric observational study.PloS one · 2021Observational
- Opioid Tolerance in Critical Illness.The New England journal of medicine · 2019Review
- Chronic Pain and Chronic Opioid Use After Intensive Care Discharge - Is It Time to Change Practice?Frontiers in pharmacology · 2019Review
- Ten tips for ICU sedation.Intensive care medicine · 2018Article
- Factors associated with sedative use and misuse among heroin users.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the efficacy and safety of clonidine as a sedative in critically ill patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation.
methodsWe performed a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane trial registry. We identified RCTs that compared clonidine to any non-clonidine regimen in critically ill patients, excluding neonates, requiring mechanical ventilation. The GRADE method was used to assess certainty of evidence.
resultsWe included eight RCTs (n = 642 patients). In seven of the trials clonidine was used for adjunctive rather than stand-alone sedation. There was no difference in the duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference (MD) 0.05 days, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.65 to 0.75, I
conclusionsUntil further RCTs are performed, data remains insufficient to support the routine use of clonidine as a sedative in the mechanically ventilated population. Clonidine may act as a narcotic-sparing agent, albeit with an increased risk of clinically significant hypotension.
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.