Comparison of Dexmedetomidine and Propofol Among Mechanically Ventilated Postsurgical Patients

Objective: To compare the outcome of dexmedetomidine and propofol among mechanically ventilated postsurgical patients. Methodology: A Comparative Study was conducted at Department of Anesthesia, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, during Six months from January 2020 June 2020. Postsurgical patients requiring mechanical ventilation admitted to Surgical ICU for 24 hours or more, aged 30-60 years and of either gender, were included. The participants were divided in to two groups. Group A Dexmedetomidine and group B Propofol. Comparison between both groups for mean systolic blood pressure at 24 hours was done using independent t-test. Effect modifiers like age, gender, diabetes and hypertension were addressed through stratification taking a p-value ?0.05 as significant. Results: A total of 60 patients (30 in dexmedetomidine and propofol groups) were included in this study. Mean age in the in dexmedetomidine group was 51.25 ±7.91 years with 17 (56.7%) and 13 (43.3%) of patients were male and female respectively. Mean age in the propofol group was 52.71±8.01 years with 16 (53.3%) and 14 (46.7%) of patients were male and female respectively. Mean SBP at 24 hours in the dexmedetomidine and propofol group was 117.26±14.37 and 111.40±11.15 respectively. P-value was 0.08. Conclusion: Study revealed that the both dexmedetomidine and propofol observed to be the effective for postoperative analgesia, sedation in addition to systolic blood pressure stability at 24 hours.