Effective acute pain management has evolved considerably in recent years and is a primary area of focus in attempts to defend against the opioid epidemic.Persistent postsurgical pain (PPP) has an incidence of up to 30–50% and has negative outcome of quality of life and negative burden on individuals, family, and society.The 2016 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) guidelines states that enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) forms an integral part of Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) and is now recommended to use a multimodal opioid-sparing approach for management of postoperative pain[1]. As such,dexmedetomidine is now being used as part of ERAS protocols along with regional nerve blocks and other medications, to create a satisfactory postoperative outcome with reduced opioid consumption in the Post anesthesia care unit (PACU). Recent Findings Dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha2 agonist, possesses analgesic effects and has a different mechanism of action when compared with opioids.When dexmedetomidine is initiated at the end of a procedure, it has a better hemodynamic stability and pain response than ropivacaine.Dexmedetomidine can be used as an adjuvant in epidurals with local anesthetic sparing effects.Its use during nerve blocks results in reduced postoperative pain.Also, local infiltration of IV dexmedetomidine is associated with earlier discharge from PACU.Perioperative use of dexmedetomidine has significantly improved postoperative outcomes when used as part of ERAS protocols.This review addressed the impact of DEX on the postoperative ERAS regimen, ranging from the sedative and analgesic effects and side effects, recovery of gastrointestinal function, respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, renal, gynecological, pediatric, etc.

Liu Zhe, Chen Hong. Research progress on the effect of dexmedetomidine on ERAS. International Journal of Frontiers in Medicine (2023), Vol. 5, Issue 8: 40-48. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFM.2023.050805.

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