Clinical applications of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist

Ryu, Junghee

Review

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2010;5(3):177-182.
Published online July 31, 2010.

Clinical applications of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea. jinaryu@lycos.co.kr

Abstract

alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists have been used successfully to treat patients with hypertension and patients withdrawing from long-term abuse of drugs or alcohol. alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists have also proved to be a clinically useful adjunct in clinical anesthetic practice as well as in chronic pain therapy because they have both anesthetic and analgesic-sparing activity. In addition, they have a role in providing hemodynamic stability in patients who are at risk of perioperative ischemia. Dexmedetomidine, a novel selective alpha2 adrenoceptor agonist, has been registered for use as a sedative-analgeic in a variety of clinical setting including monitored anesthesia care and intensive care unit. However, the side-effects of hypotension and bradycardia have limited the routine use of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists perioporeatively. In this review, we discuss the pharmacology of alpha2 adrenoceptor agonists and their useful applications in anesthesia and intensive care unit.

Key Words: alpha2 agonist, Dexmedetomidine, Intensive care unit, Monitored anesthesia care, Sedation