Is Dexmedetomidine Effective on Postoperative Shivering in Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia for an Appendectomy? A Double–Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial

Postoperative shivering (PS) is a mechanism to reduce heat loss and is the most frequent complication during the recovery period after general anesthesia. Shivering can lead to discomfort and is even risky in many patients; therefore, prevention is important.

Our study aims to determine the effect of dexmedetomidine on preventing shivering after general anesthesia in appendectomy patients.

The present double–blind, randomized clinical trial divided 90 appendectomy patients into two groups. Randomization was performed using thewww.random.org website from the numbers of sequence generator option. One group received 0.5 g/kg of dexmedetomidine before induction of general anesthesia, and another group received normal saline as a placebo. Shivering and other outcomes were checked in both groups. To find a 50% reduction of this incidence, based on alpha error of 5% and beta error of 20%, the sample size of 45 people was determined for each group. A P-value  0.05 was considered statistically significant.

In total, 63 (70%) patients were male, and 27 (30%) were female. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age (P = 0.412), weight (P = 0.460), temperature of serum for fluid therapy (P = 0.315), fluid volume (P = 0.736), perioperative body temperature (P = 0.418), preoperative body temperature (P = 0.540), and room temperature (P = 0.310). The severity of shivering was significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group (60%) than in the placebo group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference according to gender and severity of shivering between the two groups (P > 0.05).

This study suggests that the administration of dexmedetomidine can prevent postoperative shivering.