Clonidine vs. Dexmedetomidine in Agitated Delirium in Intensive Care Patients
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-02-28
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Delirium is one of the most common manifestations of cerebral dysfunction in severely ill
patients.
The international guidelines for the prevention of delirium in intensive care recommend the
daily application of environmental, behavioral and pharmacological strategies. In the case of
the agitated form of delirium, experts recommend the use of low-dose neuroleptics and α-2
agonists to control psychotic manifestations rather than traditional sedatives (mainly
benzodiazepines) that can clearly aggravate delirium.
Currently, two pharmacological α-2 agonists, clonidine (Catapressan®, Boehringer Ingelheim)
and dexmedetomidine (Dexdor®, Orion Corporation), are marketed and commonly used in intensive
care for their sedative, anxiolytic and analgesic properties.
To our knowledge, no studies have compared the effects of clonidine and dexmedetomidine in
agitated delirium in intensive care patients. Therefore, our goal is to compare the safety of
clonidine and dexmedetomidine (in terms of bradycardia and / or hypotension) in addition to
standard treatment in the context of agitated delirium in intensive care patients.