Optimising the dose of clonidine to achieve sedation in intensive care unit patients with population pharmacokinetics.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the population pharmacokinetics (PK) of clonidine in intensive care unit (ICU) patients in order to develop a dosing regimen for sedation.

Methods: We included 24 adult mechanically ventilated, sedated patients from a mixed medical and surgical ICU. Intravenous clonidine was added to standard sedation in doses of 600, 1200 or 1800 μg/d.

In vivo Elimination of Clonidine by Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration in Critically Ill Patients.

Background: Clonidine is an α2-agonist that is commonly used for sedation in the intensive care unit. When patients are on continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) in the presence of kidney dysfunction, the sieving coefficient of clonidine is required to estimate how much drug is removed by CVVH. In the present study, we measured the sieving coefficient of clonidine in critically ill, ventilated patients receiving CVVH.