Effectiveness of Dexmedetomidine Versus Meperidine in the treatment of shivering after general anesthesia

Introduction: Postoperative shivering is one of the undesirable complications from general and regional anesthesia, which leads to complications such as increased oxygen consumption, hypoxemia, induced lactic acidosis, and catecholamine release. Various drugs have been used to treat shivering, but the mechanism is complex and still unknown, and the gold standard for treatment and prevention does not exist. so, This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of dexmedetomidine and meperidine in treating shivering after general anesthesia. Materials and Methods: In this randomized double-blind clinical trial study one hundred the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I-II patients scheduled for elective abdominal surgery were enrolled. The patients who had postoperative shivering were randomly allocated into ۲ groups of ۵۰ patients each to receive dexmedetomidine ۱ μg/kg (Dex group) and meperidine ۰.۴mg/kg (meperidine group). Demographic characteristics, the severity of shivering in patients, the rate of response to treatment within ۱۵ minutes of treatment initiation, the duration of shivering, and hemodynamic variables were recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (Version ۲۰) using chi-square and t-test. Results: As regards the response rate between Dexmedetomidine and Meperidine drugs used in this study, the Dex group had high response rate than the Meperidine group (p = ۰.۰۴). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the onset of shivering (۱۰.۷±۳ vs ۱۲.۱±۲) (p = ۰.۲۱) and the time interval from treatment to cessation of shivering(۳.۷±۲.۴vs ۴.۱±۲.۷) (p = ۰.۴۵). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were significantly lower in the Dex group than in the Meperidine group. Conclusion: Based on our findings, Dexmedetomidine ۱ μg/kg is a better treatment than meperidine in relieving shivering after general anesthesia, also dexmedetomidine has an early onset effect, lesser recurrence, and higher incidences of hypotension and bradycardia.

Keywords:

Dexmedetomidine , Meperidine , Shivering , Anesthesia , General