Efficacy of dexmedetomidine in the prevention and treatment of postanesthetic shivering after cesarean section

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of dexmedetomidine in the prevention and treatment of postanesthetic shivering in cesarean section.Methods: A total of 144 pregnant women who underwent anesthesia for cesarean section between March and December 2022 were randomly divided into the study group (n = 72) and control group (n = 72). The pregnant women were given combined spinal-epidural anesthesia. Following childbirth, those in the study group were given dexmedetomidine, while those in the control group were given normalsaline. The dose of spinal anesthesia was administered based on the following criteria: intraoperative infusion, atropine usage, ephedrine usage, intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative dosage, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, incidence of shivering, and sedation score. Incidence of adverse reactions were recorded and compared between the two groups.Results: Intraoperative infusion volume, bleeding volume, levels of atropine and ephedrine usage, and spinal anesthesia dose were similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). At 10 min post-treatment, the study group had lower mean arterial pressure, heart rate and incidence of postanesthetic shivering, as well as higher postoperative sedation score than the control group. Compared with the control group, the study group had slightly higher incidence of pregnancy-related adverse reactions, but the difference was non-significant.Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine has good efficacy in preventing and treating postanesthetic shivering in cesarean section patients. However, further clinical trials are required prior to its adoption in clinical practice.