Opioid-free versus opioid-based anesthesia in major spine surgery: a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Background: Major spine surgery is associated with severe postoperative pain and increased opioid consumption. Opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) is thought to provide adequate intraoperative analgesia with reduced postoperative opioid consumption. The aim of this study is to compare the impact of intraoperative OFA approach to the conventional opioid-based anesthesia (OBA) on postoperative pain, opioid consumption, and related side effects in patients undergoing multilevel spinal fusion surgery.

Dexmedetomidine for Improved Quality of Emergence From General Anesthesia: A Dose-Finding Study.

Background: Dexmedetomidine provides smooth and hemodynamically stable emergence at the expense of hypotension, delayed recovery, and sedation. We investigated the optimal dose of dexmedetomidine for prevention of cough, agitation, hypertension, tachycardia, and shivering, with minimal side effects.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind trial, 216 adult patients were randomly assigned to dexmedetomidine 1 µg/kg (D 1), 0.