Effects of intraoperative dexmedetomidine on the incidence of acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac surgery patients: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Perioperative dexmedetomidine use has been reported to reduce the incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury after adult cardiac surgery. However, large-scale randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of dexmedetomidine use on acute kidney injury in pediatric patients are lacking. AIMS: We investigated whether intraoperative dexmedetomidine could reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac surgery patients. METHODS: In total, 141 pediatric patients were randomly assigned to dexmedetomidine or control groups. After anesthetic induction, patients in the dexmedetomidine group were administered 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine over 10 minutes and an additional 0.5 µg/kg/h of dexmedetomidine during surgery. Additionally, 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine was infused immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass was initiated. The incidence of acute kidney injury was defined following Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines. RESULTS: The final analysis included 139 patients. The incidence of acute kidney injury did not differ between dexmedetomidine and control groups (16.9% vs 23.5%; odds ratio 0.661; 95% CI 0.285 to 1.525; P = .33). Similarly, neither the incidence of abnormal postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate values (P = .96) nor the incidence of arrhythmia, mechanical ventilation duration, length of stay in the intensive care unit, and hospitalization differed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative dexmedetomidine did not reduce acute kidney injury incidence in pediatric cardiac surgery patients.