How should dexmedetomidine and clonidine be prescribed in the critical care setting?

Cardiac, ventilatory and kidney management in the critical care setting has been optimized over the past decades. Cognition and sedation represent one of the last remaning challenges. As conventional sedation is suboptimal and as the sedation evoked by alpha-2 adrenergic agonists (“cooperative” sedation with dexmedetomidine, clonidine or guanfacine) represents a valuable alternative, this manuscript covers three practical topics for which evidence-based medicine is lacking: a) Switching from conventional to cooperative sedation (“switching”): the short answer is the abrupt withdrawal of conventional sedation, immediate implementation of alpha-2 agonist infusion and the use of “rescue sedation” (midazolam bolus[es]) or “breakthrough sedation” (haloperidol bolus[es]) to stabilize cooperative sedation. b) Switching from conventional to cooperative sedation in unstable patients (e.g., refractory delirium tremens, septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, etc.): to avoid hypotension and bradycardia evoked by sympathetic deactivation, the short answer is to maintain the stroke volume through volume loading, vasopressors and inotropes. c) To avoid these switches and associated difficulties, alpha-2 agonists should be considered first-line sedatives. The short answer is to administer alpha-2 agonists slowly from admission or endotracheal intubation up to stabilized cooperative sedation. The “take home” message is as follows: a) alpha-2 agonists are jointly sympathetic deactivators and sedative agents; b) sympathetic deactivation implies maintaining the stroke volume and iterative assessment of volemia. Evidence-based medicine should document our propositions.