1Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Worthing Hospital, Lyndhurst Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 2DH, UK. 2Clinical Pharmacokinetics Department, Abbott Laboratories, 100 Abbott Park Road, Dept. R4PK, AP13A-3, Abbott Park, IL 60064-6104, USA. 3Department of Intensive Care, St Georges Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT UK*Corresponding author
Declaration of interest: Dr M. D. Karol is employed by Abbott Laboratories. Dr R. M. Grounds has performed consultancy work on behalf of Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories has also contributed towards the St Georges Hospital Special Trustees research fund, which supports the salaries of research fellows in the ICU.
Accepted for publication: January 4, 2002
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Abstract |
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Methods. On arrival in the ICU, sedation with dexmedetomidine was commenced with a loading dose of 2.5 µg kg1 h1 over 10 min followed by a maintenance infusion of 0.7 µg kg1 h1 into a central vein. Blood samples for measurement of plasma dexmedetomidine concentrations were taken during and after sedative infusions at predetermined intervals. Pharmacokinetic variables were estimated using non-compartmental methods. In addition, non-linear mixed effects modelling was used to obtain variable estimates not readily attainable from non-compartmental methods. Respiratory and haemodynamic data were recorded to enable correlation of any adverse events with the calculated pharmacokinetic profile.
Results. The harmonic mean distribution half-life of dexmedetomidine was 8.6 min and the harmonic mean terminal half-life was 3.14 h. Steady-state volume of distribution averaged 173 litres, clearance averaged 48.3 litres h1, and the mean residence time averaged 3.86 h.
Conclusions. Mean dexmedetomidine pharmacokinetic variables seen in postoperative, intensive care patients were similar to those previously found in volunteers, with the exception of the steady-state volume of distribution. A small loading dose provided effective sedation with no adverse events.
Br J Anaesth 2002; 88: 66975
Keywords: pharmacokinetics, dexmedetomidine; intensive care, postoperative; intensive care, sedation; sympathetic nervous system, alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist; complications
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Introduction |
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The pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine have been studied following intramuscular and computer-controlled i.v. infusions in human volunteers.5 6 The pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine are not influenced by isoflurane anaesthesia,7 and the influence of cardiac output on dexmedetomidine pharmacokinetics has been investigated.8 However, all these studies have described the pharmacokinetics of dexmedetomidine in healthy volunteers, and there are no published pharmacokinetic data on patients receiving dexmedetomidine infusions in the ICU.
We have therefore characterized the pharmacokinetic profile of dexmedetomidine in 10 patients requiring postoperative sedation and ventilation in the ICU, and examined potential side-effects, such as haemodynamic and respiratory changes.
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Patients and methods |
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The anaesthetic technique used prior to admission to ICU was chosen by the individual anaesthetist.
On arrival in the ICU, sedation with dexmedetomidine was commenced, and additional analgesia, if required, was provided by an alfentanil infusion. Dexmedetomidine was supplied in 2 ml ampoules at a concentration of 100 µg ml1, and diluted to 8 µg ml1 with normal saline. Patients received a loading dose of 2.5 µg kg1 h1 for 10 min followed by a maintenance infusion rate of 0.7 µg kg1 h1 into a central vein. If supplementary analgesia was required, alfentanil (1 mg ml1) was infused at 0.251 µg kg1 min1. The level of sedation was measured and recorded hourly using the Ramsay sedation score9 and bispectral index.10 Atracurium boluses were allowed if required to provide muscle relaxation, and paracetamol could be used as an antipyretic. Otherwise, no other sedative or analgesic agents were used.
Patients were mechanically ventilated with oxygen-enriched air to attain satisfactory blood gases. Extubation was considered when there was no evidence of bleeding, and patients were alert, cardiovascularly stable, normothermic, with an arterial oxygen tension 10 kPa or an inspired oxygen concentration
40%, and positive end-expiratory pressure
5 cm H2O. Extubation was undertaken when spontaneous respiration was established with pressure support
10 cm H2O, tidal volumes >6 ml kg1 and ventilatory frequency
10 bpm but
20 bpm.11 Dexmedetomidine was discontinued before extubation. The extubation time was defined as the time from cessation of sedation infusion to extubation. Heart rate, arterial pressure, central venous pressure, and oxygen saturation were monitored continuously, and recorded every 10 min for the first 30 min and then hourly. Ventilatory frequency was recorded hourly and arterial blood gas analysis 2 hourly following extubation. Cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events were defined as a change in arterial pressure
40% from baseline, bradycardia <50 beats min1, tachyarrhythmia, and ventilatory frequency <8 bpm or >25 bpm following extubation.
Blood samples (5 ml) for measurement of plasma dexmedetomidine concentrations were taken at the start of the dexmedetomidine infusion (time=0 min) and at 5, 10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 min, and then at 2, 3.5, 6, 10, 14, 19 and 24 h if the patient was still receiving a dexmedetomidine infusion. A blood sample was taken immediately after discontinuation of dexmedetomidine, and again at 10, 25, 40, 60, 90 min and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 24 h. Blood samples were taken from the radial artery cannula, after first removing the dead space volume, and were collected into prechilled tubes containing no additives, and immediately centrifuged in the ICU.
Plasma was frozen and stored at 70°C until assayed at Oneida Research Services (Whitesboro, NY, USA). Internal standard (d-MPV-872 HCl; empirical formula C12H14N2HCl; molecular weight 222.72) was added to aliquots of plasma, and samples were simultaneously extracted with hexanes under basic conditions and derivatized with pentafluorobenzoyl chloride in hexanes. After derivatization, the hexane layer was evaporated to dryness, reconstituted in toluene, vortexed, and samples injected into a gas chromatographmass spectrometer; ions monitored 394 m/z (derivative of dexmedetomidine) and 380 m/z (derivative of internal standard). Intra-assay coefficients of variation were 10.7% at 20 pg ml1, 8.4% at 600 pg ml1, and 8.7% at 1200 pg ml1. Interassay coefficients of variation were 10.9% at 20 pg ml1, 8.2% at 600 pg ml1, and 8.6% at 1200 pg ml1.The lower limit of quantitation was 10 pg ml1. The mean coefficient of correlation was 0.997 for calibration curves, with standards ranging from 10 to 1498 pg ml1.
Pharmacokinetic calculations
Pharmacokinetic variables of dexmedetomidine were estimated using non-compartmental methods. The variables estimated were: the maximum observed plasma concentration (Cmax), time to Cmax (peak time, Tmax), the terminal half-life (t1/2), the terminal phase elimination rate constant (ß) the area under the plasmaconcentration time curve (AUC), area under the first moment curve (AUMC), mean residence time (MRT), and the apparent steady-state volume of distribution (Vss). In addition, non-linear mixed effects modelling was used to estimate variables not readily attainable using non-compartmental methods. Typical values of clearance and volume are represented by CL and V1 respectively. Central estimate of clearance and volume are represented by CL2 and V2 respectively. Distribution half-life is represented by t1/2.
Non-compartmental analyses
Cmax and Tmax were determined directly from the plasma concentrationtime data. The value of the terminal phase elimination rate constant (ß) was obtained from the slope of the least-squares linear regression of the logarithms of the plasma concentrationtime data, from the terminal log-linear phase of the profile. The terminal log-linear phase was identified by visual inspection. The terminal elimination half-life (t1/2) was calculated as ln(2)/ß.
The AUC from time 0 to the time of the last measurable concentration (AUCt) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule. The AUC was extrapolated to infinity by dividing the last measurable plasma concentration (Ct) by ß. Denoting the extrapolated portion of the AUC as AUCext, the AUC from time 0 to infinite time (AUC) was calculated as:
AUC = AUCt + AUCext
The area under the first moment of the plasma concentrationtime curve from time 0 to the time of the last measurable concentration (AUMCt) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule as applied to the concentrationtime product vs time (first moment) data. The AUC was extrapolated to infinity using the following equation:
AUMCext = tCt/ß + Ct/ß2
AUMC was calculated as:
AUMC = AUMCt + AUMCext
Area under the drug administration rate curve (AUCR) and first moment of the drug administration rate curve (AUMCR) were computed as for the corresponding parameters of the concentrationtime curve, substituting administration rate for concentration.
MRT can be computed as the ratio of the area under the first moment curve and the area under the curve (AUMC/AUC) when drug administration is instantaneous. When drug administration takes a measurable finite time, the mean administration or input time must be subtracted. Under conditions where drug administration is not constant, such as a loading dose followed by a maintenance dose, the mean input time is computed as AUMCR/AUCR.12 Thus, the MRT, the average of the times that the administered drug molecules remained in the body, was computed as:
MRT = AUMC/AUC AUMCR/AUCR
Clearance was calculated by dividing the administered dose by the AUC. Vss was calculated as the product of clearance and MRT.
Non-linear mixed effects modelling analyses
Non-linear mixed effects modelling was done using the program WinNonMix.13 A two-compartment open model (model 9) with clearance and volume parameterization was used. Deviation of individual pharmacokinetic parameters from the typical population value was modelled using the exponential model:
Pj = PTV * e(pj)
where PTV represents the typical value or central estimate of the parameter P, in this case clearance, V1, CL2, or V2, pj represents the jth individual parameter value, pj characterizes the difference between the individual and the population central estimate, such that PTV * e(
pj) gives Pj;
pj is assumed to be normally distributed with a mean of 0 and a variance of
p. Interpatient variability was modelled with additive and proportional error as:
Yij = Fij + Fij*ij1 +
ij2
where Yij represents the jth individual ith observation, Fij represents the predicted concentration for the jth individual at the ith observation, and ij1 and
ij2 represent the proportional and additive intra-individual variability, respectively.
were assumed to be normally distributed with a mean of 0 and a variance of
2. Within the program WinNonMix, this interpatient variability function was selected by designating a + |Yhat|2 as the variance function. The modelling method was set to conditional first order.
Appropriateness of fit was assessed by achievement of convergence and inspection of observed vs predicted, weighted residual vs predicted, weighted residual vs time, and typical value as well as individual concentration vs time plots. Observed versus model-predicted individual and population dexmedetomidine concentrations are shown in Figure 1A and 1B, respectively.
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Results |
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Discussion |
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It is reassuring that despite t1/2 values in the order of 3 h, patients could be extubated soon after termination of the dexmedetomidine infusion. Presumably this reflects the unique ability of dexmedetomidine to sedate with only mild functional and cognitive impairment,4 and with minimal effects on respiration.2 3 In this study, there also appeared to be little effect on clinically measured respiratory variables in patients following extubation. Thus, despite therapeutic sedative concentrations of dexmedetomidine up to at least the t1/2 (3 h) following termination of the infusion, there were no clinically detectable adverse respiratory effects in our spontaneously breathing postoperative patients. The patients remained comfortably sedated (Ramsay sedation score 4) for several hours after termination of the dexmedetomidine infusion.
In an earlier study examining dexmedetomidine infusions in the ICU,1 18 of 66 patients experienced significant hypotension or bradycardia, and the majority of these events occurred during the loading period. The loading dose was subsequently reduced by over 50% for the present study, and sedation continued to be effective following the patients arrival in the ICU. No adverse cardiovascular events were seen in any of the patients in this study at any time period. As would be expected of an alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist, arterial pressure and heart rate gradually decreased from baseline following commencement of dexmedetomidine and then increased slowly again following termination of the infusion, with no evidence of any clinically important rebound cardiovascular events. Haemodynamics remained stable over the extubation period, as has been reported previously.1
In summary, the mean dexmedetomidine pharmacokinetic parameters seen in postoperative patients requiring sedation and mechanical ventilation in the ICU are similar to those found previously in volunteers, with the exception of Vss. Vss appears to be greater in postoperative patients, and this may be explained by differences in pathology or methodology when compared with volunteer studies. A reduction in the initial loading dose infusion of dexmedetomidine provides adequate sedation, with no cardiovascular adverse events. Extubation time following discontinuation of dexmedetomidine was rapid, and there appeared to be no harmful effects on respiration in spontaneously breathing patients in the ICU, despite therapeutic sedative dexmedetomidine plasma concentrations.
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References |
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