Effect of dexmedetomidine on preventing postoperative agitation in children: a meta-analysis.

Emergence agitation (EA) is one of the most common postoperative complications in children. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to assess the effect of dexmedetomidine for preventing postoperative agitation in children.We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trails, MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Randomized controlled trials were included. The following outcome measures were evaluated: incidence of EA, number of patients requiring rescue, time to eye-open, time to extubation, time to discharge from the postanesthesia care unit (PACU).We analyzed 19 trials (1608 patients) that met the inclusion criteria. Compared with placebo, intravenous dexmedetomidine significantly reduced the incidence of EA [risk ratio (RR) 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25-0.44, P