Bratislava Medical Journal Vol.115, No.5, p.272-274, 2014

he primary purpose of this study is to assess the effects of dexmedetomidine (DEX) infusion on pulmonary artery pressures (PAP), heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in pigs. The secondary purpose is to evaluate whether DEX infusion via the pulmonary artery has any beneficial effect over the peripheral IV route.
Materials and methods: Sixteen healthy male pigs (25–35 kg) scheduled for laparoscopy training were used in this study. The animals were randomly allocated into two groups:

Group I (n = 9): A loading dose of 1µg/kg DEX was administered over 10 minutes followed by an infusion of 0.5 µg/kg/hr for one hour via the pulmonary artery catheter.

Group II (n = 7): A loading dose of 1 µg/kg DEX was administered over 10 minutes followed by an infusion of 0.5 µg/kg/hr for one hour via the peripheral venous catheter.

Mean PAP, HR, MAP, SpO2, and ETCO2 were recorded at 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes after the initiation of the DEX infusion.