Dose of dexmedetomidine in newborn infants
| Study ID | Bolus at start of infusion | Infusion | ||||
| Starting dose | Increments | Range/maximum | Weaning | |||
| O’Mara 201228 | 0.5 μg/kg | 0.3 μg/kg/hour | 0.1 μg/kg/hour twice daily if need for >3 doses of adjunct sedation | 0.3–1.2 μg/kg/hour | 0.1 μg/kg/hour every 12–24 hours | |
| Morton 202139 | – | 0.5 μg/kg | 0.1–0.2 μg/kg/hour not more frequently than every 30 min | Two μg/kg/hour | No specific regimen given | |
| Estkowski 201526 | – | |||||
| Dersch-Mills 201933 | – | 0.2–0.3 μg/kg/hour | 0.1 μg/kg/hour based on pain and sedation scores | 0.5 μg/kg/hour | No regimen specified—weaned over median of 79 hours (IQR, 35–175). 10 infants needed clonidine (nine had dexmedetomidine for >10 days) | |
| Australasian Neonatal Medicines Formulary45 | <37 weeks’ GA | 0.2 μg/kg | 0.2 μg/kg/hour | 0.1–0.2 μg/kg/hour every 30 min | One μg/kg/hour | 0.1 μg/kg/hour every 30 min OR 0.2 μg/kg/hour every 8 hours |
| Term infant ≤14 days | 0.35 μg/kg | 0.3 μg/kg/hour | 1.2 μg/kg/hour | |||
| Term infant >14 days | 0.5 μg/kg | 0.5 to 0.75 μg/kg/hour | 1.5 μg/kg/hour | |||
| Neonatal Drug Dosing Guideline, Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre (personal communication) | 0.5–1 μg/kg ‘not usually required’ | 0.1 to 0.3 μg/kg/h | 0.1 μg/kg/hour every 1–2 hours | One μg/kg/hour | 0.1 μg/kg/hour every 12–24 hours as tolerated | |