{"title":"Guanfacine Use in the ICU for Management of Sedation Weaning.","authors":"Young R Lee, Alayna Garza, Laureen Kiama","doi":"10.1007/s40261-025-01434-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent evidence highlights the increasing utilization of guanfacine in the intensive care unit. While dexmedetomidine is a widely used sedative and anti-anxiety agent in the intensive care unit, prolonged use can lead to withdrawal effects when attempting to reduce the dosage. This has generated interest in using guanfacine to manage agitation in patients being weaned off dexmedetomidine. Clonidine has been used for dexmedetomidine weaning, but its use has been associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Some observational studies and case reports have explored the use of guanfacine and have shown its benefits and tolerability for patients taking dexmedetomidine experiencing adverse effects. Guanfacine is increasingly being used in the intensive care unit instead of clonidine and is commonly prescribed for the management of withdrawal effects. While there are limited data from observational studies, it holds promise for future clinical research and broader adoption of guanfacine in the intensive care unit.</p>","PeriodicalId":10402,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Drug Investigation","volume":" ","pages":"169-173"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Drug Investigation","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40261-025-01434-x","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/3/12 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent evidence highlights the increasing utilization of guanfacine in the intensive care unit. While dexmedetomidine is a widely used sedative and anti-anxiety agent in the intensive care unit, prolonged use can lead to withdrawal effects when attempting to reduce the dosage. This has generated interest in using guanfacine to manage agitation in patients being weaned off dexmedetomidine. Clonidine has been used for dexmedetomidine weaning, but its use has been associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Some observational studies and case reports have explored the use of guanfacine and have shown its benefits and tolerability for patients taking dexmedetomidine experiencing adverse effects. Guanfacine is increasingly being used in the intensive care unit instead of clonidine and is commonly prescribed for the management of withdrawal effects. While there are limited data from observational studies, it holds promise for future clinical research and broader adoption of guanfacine in the intensive care unit.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Drug Investigation provides rapid publication of original research covering all phases of clinical drug development and therapeutic use of drugs. The Journal includes:
-Clinical trials, outcomes research, clinical pharmacoeconomic studies and pharmacoepidemiology studies with a strong link to optimum prescribing practice for a drug or group of drugs.
-Clinical pharmacodynamic and clinical pharmacokinetic studies with a strong link to clinical practice.
-Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers in which significant implications for clinical prescribing are discussed.
-Studies focusing on the application of drug delivery technology in healthcare.
-Short communications and case study reports that meet the above criteria will also be considered.
Additional digital features (including animated abstracts, video abstracts, slide decks, audio slides, instructional videos, infographics, podcasts and animations) can be published with articles; these are designed to increase the visibility, readership and educational value of the journal’s content. In addition, articles published in Clinical Drug Investigation may be accompanied by plain language summaries to assist readers who have some knowledge, but non in-depth expertise in, the area to understand important medical advances.