Dexmedetomidine in Thoracoscopic Surgery: Opioid-Sparing Strategy

Numerous studies in recent years have shown that the use of opioid-free analgesia can reduce opioid use and length of stay in the recovery room, as published in the journals Anesthesia \& Analgesia1. Compared with traditional opioid analgesic anesthesia, opioid-free analgesic anesthesia can be used to reduce postoperative respiratory complications, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and postoperative opioid needs. During surgery, opioid analgesics may have immunosuppressive effects, but different anesthesia/analgesia methods will change the individual's stress response, affect the human body's cellular immunity, and may even lead to changes in angiogenesis growth factors associated with cancer recurrence, so it is likely to affect the prognosis of cancer patients. In addition, Dexmedetomidine, a highly selective alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist, can replace opioids for pain relief during surgery, providing superior analgesia and reducing opioid use while reducing the need for general anesthetics amount, thus avoiding suppression of immune system function. A study in the Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology pointed out that Dexmedetomidine can be used to replace opioid analgesics in surgical anesthesia, and there was no difference in the use of rescue opioid analgesics during and after surgery5. Several clinical studies have shown that opioid-free anesthesia is significantly associated with a lower incidence of respiratory complications and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Therefore, general anesthesia combined with Dexmedetomidine can be regarded as an opioid-free anesthesia strategy.