Dexmedetomidine decreases the 50% effective dose (ED50) of intravenous propofol required to prevent tracheal intubation response in Beagles

OBJECTIVETo determine the 50% effective dose (ED50) of intravenous propofol required for successfully preventing tracheal intubation response in Beagles co-induced with dexmedetomidine.ANIMALS36 adult male BeaglesPROCEDURESThe dogs were randomly assigned to either group D1, group D2, or group C (received 1 mu g/kg, 2 mu g/kg dexmedeto-midine intravenously, or the same amount of normal saline as dexmedetomidine, 10 mL). The first dog in each group received 6 mg/kg of propofol for induction. The pump speed of propofol was 600 mL/h. The dosage varied with increments or decrements of 0.5 mg/kg based on the Dixon up-and-down method. The duration of eye-opening after propofol administration was recorded. Changes in heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) were recorded at 5 timepoints: after entering the operation room and prior to propofol administration (T1), 1 and 3 min after propofol administration (T2 and T3), 3 and 5 min after intubation (T4 and T5).RESULTSThe required ED50 of propofol that prevented tracheal intubation response in D1, D2, and C groups were 6.4 mg/kg (95% CI, 6.1 to 6.7 mg/kg), 5.8 mg/kg (95% CI, 5.67 to 6 mg/kg), and 8.3 mg/kg (95% CI, 8 to 8.5 mg/kg), respec-tively. The recovery time of group D2 was significantly longer than that of groups D1 and C (P < .05). The differences in HR among the 3 groups were significant from T2 up to T5 timepoint (P < .05). The differences in RR among the 3 groups were significant at T2 and T3 timepoints (P < .05).CLINICAL RELEVANCEDexmedetomidine pre-injection reduces the amount of propofol required for endotracheal intubation response in Beagles, thereby reducing the respiratory inhibition induced by propofol.