Objective: Our aim was to evauate the application value of esesketamine and dexmedetomidine in preventing postoperative hyperalgesia in elderly patients who received thoracic anesthesia.
Methods: A total of 94 elderly patients who underwent thoracic anesthesia in Sanmen People's Hospital from January 2021 to October 2022 were selected and divided into a dexmedetomidine group (n = 47) and an esketamine group (n = 47) by the random number table method. All patients were continuously received intravenous (IV) remifentanil. In the dexmedetomidine group, dexmedetomidine 0.7 μg/kg was administered IV, followed by 0.2 to 0.5 μg/kg/h to maintain anesthesia, while in the esketamine group, esketamine 0.5 mg/kg was given IV 20 min after induction of anesthesia was completed.
Results: Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores in the esketamine group were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group at 1, 6, 12 and 24 h postoperatively (P < .05), and Ramsay sedation scores were not statistically different from those in the dexmedetomidine group (P > .05). At 3 d postoperatively, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in the dexmedetomidine group were lower than 1 d preoperatively; at 5 d postoperatively, the negative mood and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were significantly higher in both groups than 1 d preoperatively; at 14 d postoperatively, the PSQI scores were higher in both groups than 1 d preoperatively, and there was no statistical difference between the negative mood scores at 1 d before surgery (P > .05). At 5 d postoperatively in the esketamine group, the negative mood scores were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group at 5 d postoperatively and the PSQI scores at 5 and 14 d postoperatively were lower than in the dexmedetomidine group (P < .05).
Conclusion: Both esketamine and dexmedetomidine can be used to prevent postoperative delirium and nociceptive hypersensitivity after anesthesia in elderly patients with thoracic surgery. However, esketamine is superior to dexmedetomidine in analgesic effect, improvement of negative mood and sleep and stabilization of intraoperative hemodynamics, leading to better effect in preventing delirium and hyperalgesia after anesthesia.