Abstract
Dexmedetomidine is a selective alpha-2 receptor agonist that possesses both sedative and analgesic properties, with minimal respiratory depression. We report the successful administration of dexmedetomidine on a 16-year-old primigravida woman that allowed the patient to tolerate application of bi-level positive airway pressure ventilation in treatment of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Edward A Bittner MD PhD, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston MA 02114. E-mail: ebittner{at}partners.org.
The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
Editor in Chief Dean Hess was blinded to the peer review of this paper, which was managed by Deputy Editor Richard Branson.
- Copyright © 2012 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.