Taming Postoperative Delirium with Dexmedetomidine: A Review of the Therapeutic Agent’s Neuroprotective Effects following Surgery

Postoperative delirium (POD) represents a perioperative neurocognitive disorder that has dreaded ramifications on a patient’s recovery from surgery. Dexmedetomidine displays multiple mechanisms of neuroprotection to assist in preventing POD as a part of a comprehensive anesthetic care plan. This rev...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vincent Bargnes, Brian Oliver, Emily Wang, Seth Greenspan, Zhaosheng Jin, Isaac Yeung, Sergio Bergese
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:Pharmaceuticals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/16/10/1453
Description
Summary:Postoperative delirium (POD) represents a perioperative neurocognitive disorder that has dreaded ramifications on a patient’s recovery from surgery. Dexmedetomidine displays multiple mechanisms of neuroprotection to assist in preventing POD as a part of a comprehensive anesthetic care plan. This review will cover dexmedetomidine’s pharmacological overlap with the current etiological theories behind POD along with pre-clinical and clinical studies on POD prevention with dexmedetomidine. While the body of evidence surrounding the use of dexmedetomidine for POD prevention still requires further development, promising evidence exists for the use of dexmedetomidine in select dosing and circumstances to enhance recovery from surgery.
ISSN:1424-8247