Clonidine in cineangiocardiography: sedative effects on blood pressure and heart rate.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of clonidine on heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP) as well as its sedative effect on patients submitted to a cineangiocardiography.

Methods: A randomized, controlled, double blind, prospective clinical trial was conducted on 62 patients submitted to an elective cineangiocardiography. The patients were divided in two groups: the clonidine group, that were administered a 0.8 microg/kg dose of this drug and the control group, that were administered a 0.9% saline solution. Sedation was evaluated based on the Ramsay Scale and the administration of a 0.04 mg/kg dose of meperidine that was given to the patients who were agitated or anxious during the procedure. The invasive BP, HR and sedation score based on the Ramsay Scale were analyzed every 5 minutes and four different intervals were considered for the assessment: I1- start of the test; I2- 5 minutes after the start of the test; I3- median time of the test and I4- end of the test.

Results: The clonidine group presented better BP and HR stability and sedation efficacy while the control group presented a higher intake of meperidine (p<0.05). In the statistical analysis, the inference of the continuous variables was calculated using the Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney test and the chi2 or Fisher Exact Probability test was used for the categorical variables.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that clonidine was an efficient means to control BP and HR and provided a conscious sedation for patients submitted to a cineangiocardiography.