Effects of epidural anesthesia combined with dexmedetomidine on blood pressure, sedation, analgesia and serum β-endorphin levels in patients with hip fractures.

objectiveTo investigate the effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) combined with epidural anesthesia on blood pressure, sedation, analgesia and serum β-endorphin levels in patients with hip fractures.

methodsA total of 260 patients with hip fractures were randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group by random number table, with 130 cases in each group. During the perioperative period, the control group was anesthetized with sufentanil combined midazolam, while the experimental group was anesthetized with sufentanil with DEX. In this study, we observed the vital signs and evaluated Ramsay scores at 15 minutes (T1), 30 minutes (T2), 60 minutes (T3), and 90 minutes (T4) after anesthesia. The analgesic effect was obtained using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores at 2 hours (H1), 6 hours (H2), 12 hours (H3), and 24 hours (H4) after operation. The collected blood was used to determine the levels of nitric oxide (NO), endorphin (β-EP), substance P (SP), gamma-interferon (IFN-γ), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). We also recorded the incidence of adverse reactions during the observation period.

resultsCompared with the control group, the experimental group had higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) at T1, T2 and T3, higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at T2, higher rate-pressure product (RPP) at T3 and T4, and lower heart rate (HR) at T1, T2 and T3 (all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had higher Ramsay scores at T2 and T3 (P<0.05). The control group had a difference in Ramsay scores at T2 and T3 compared to T1 (P<0.05). Ramsay scores of the experimental group at T4 were different from that at T1 (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had higher visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at H1, H2, and H3 (P<0.05), while the VAS scores at H3 were lower than those at H1, and the VAS scores at H4 were lower than those at H3 (P<0.05). After operation, the levels of NO, β-EP, SP and IFN-γ in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), but the level of TNF-α was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The number of PCIA analgesic compressions and the dosage of sufentanil in the experimental group were different from those in the control group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the adverse reactions between experimental group and control groups (P>0.05).

conclusionCompared with midazolam, the effect of DEX combined with epidural anesthesia for the hip fracture was better. It can maintain patient's vital signs and up-regulate β-endorphin for rapid analgesia and sedation.