Intravenous dexmedetomidine during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section: A meta-analysis of randomized trials

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of spinal anaesthesia using dexmedetomidine for caesarean section. METHODS: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and CNKI were searched for relevant literature. RESULTS: The incidence of nausea and vomiting in the dexmedetomidine group was significantly lower than that in the control group (OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.12–0.35, P < 0.00001). No difference was found in the incidence of pruritus between the two groups (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.36–4.09, P = 0.76).The dexmedetomidine group had a higher incidence of bradycardia than did the control group (OR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.02–4.77, P = 0.05). The incidence of shivering in the dexmedetomidine group was significantly lower than that in the control group (OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.13–0.32, P < 0.00001). The incidence of hypotension was not different between the two groups (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.49–1.56, P = 0.65). CONCLUSION: Dexmedetomidine can decrease the incidence of nausea, vomiting, bradycardia, and shivering with spinal anaesthesia during caesarean section.