Evaluation of the impact of a prescribing guideline on the use of intraoperative dexmedetomidine at a tertiary academic medical center.

To evaluate usage patterns of dexmedetomidine in the operating room after implementation of a prescribing guideline. We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the impact of a prescribing guideline on usage patterns of dexmedetomidine in the operating room at a tertiary, academic medical center during one-month period pre- (July 2010) and post-guideline (July 2011 and July 2012) implementation. A total of 267 patients received intraoperative dexmedetomidine during the study period.