Background and objectives
Postcardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with up to
60% mortality rates of all cardiac surgery patients. This study aimed to study the
renal-protective effect of dexmedetomidine in reducing the incidence of AKI
following cardiac surgery.
Patients and methods
A total of 40 patients scheduled for cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass
(CPB) were randomly allocated into two equal groups. In the study group,
dexmedetomidine was given as an infusion of 0.4 μg/kg/h from induction of
anesthesia till the end of surgery while in the control group, the patients
received an equal volume of normal saline. The primary outcome of this study
was the level of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin. The secondary
outcomes were serum creatinine, hemodynamic parameters, operative time, aortic
cross-clamp time, CPB time, and duration of ICU stay.
Results
Intraoperative and postoperative time variables and number of patients who
developed hypotension were comparable between groups. Bradycardia
developed more frequently in the dexmedetomidine group than in the placebo
group. Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin after 2 h showed a
statistically significant difference between groups. Serum creatinine showed no
statistically significant difference between groups.
Conclusion
Dexmedetomidine could have a protective role in renal function during cardiac
surgery using the CPB.