Abstract

Inadequate postoperative pain can hinder surgical recovery, impairing patient functionality and quality of life. The unfavorable side effects associated with a purely opioid based anesthetic have led anesthesia practitioners towards identifying alternative pharmacologic strategies to optimize postoperative analgesia. Respiratory depression, excessive sedation, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and gastrointestinal disturbances remain some of the most notable opioid related side effects. Alternatively, dexmedetomidine is one alpha-2-agonist that offers analgesic qualities without the associated aforementioned side effects. Dexmedetomidine has been used as a multimodal approach to anesthesia, offering suitable analgesia for control of postoperative pain.

Author Details

Millie Franklin, DNP (c), RN; David Sanford, DNP, CRNA, MSN, EMT-P; Lisa Herbinger, DNP, CRNA

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Lead Author Affiliation

Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Dexmedetomidine, Multimodal Analgesia, Opioid Sparing, Postoperative Analgesia

Advisor

Sanford, David

Second Advisor

Herbinger, Lisa

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Samford University

Degree Year

2021

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2021-03-24

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