Dexmedetomidine in paediatric anaesthesia: a call for action?

Dexmedetomidine is increasingly used in paediatric anaesthesia practice. In this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, a retrospective hospital registry study in anaesthetised children showed that intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine was dose-dependently associated with a longer postanaesthesia care unit length of stay. Dexmedetomidine administration was also associated with higher total hospital costs and higher odds of unwarranted haemodynamic effects, while the onset of emergence delirium was not reduced. Although these results could curb enthusiasm for paediatric use of dexmedetomidine, they might also trigger discussion about our approach in the postoperative period to children having received dexmedetomidine intraoperatively.