Identifying the pathophysiological traits of obstructive sleep apnea during dexmedetomidine sedation

• Published in: Journal of sleep research 2024-08, Vol.33 (4), p.e14079-n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Chunbo, Ma, Renqiang, Wu, Xingmei, Wang, Dan, Chen, Lin, Huang, Zixuan, Ji, Ding, Wen, Weiping, Wu, Yan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Arousal - drug effects; Arousal - physiology; dexmedetomidine; Dexmedetomidine - adverse effects; Dexmedetomidine - pharmacology; Female; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - adverse effects; Hypnotics and Sedatives - pharmacology; induced sleep; Male; Middle Aged; obstructive sleep apnea; pathophysiological traits; pharyngeal collapsibility; Pharynx - drug effects; Pharynx - physiopathology; Polysomnography; Prospective Studies; sedation; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive - chemically induced; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive - physiopathology
• ISSN: 0962-1105; 1365-2869; 1365-2869
• DOI: 10.1111/jsr.14079

Summary Dexmedetomidine (DEX) has been described as a safe sedative in clinical practice, but its effects on the pathophysiological traits of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are unclear. We estimated the effects of DEX sedation on the four key pathophysiological traits of OSA (pharyngeal collapsibility, dilator muscle function, arousal threshold, and loop gain) in adult patients with OSA by conducting a secondary analysis of a prospective diagnostic trial. Pathophysiological traits estimated from polysomnography and the respiratory parameters under natural sleep and DEX‐induced sleep were compared. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to estimate the relationship between pathophysiological traits and OSA severity for both sleep states. Adult patients with OSA had a significantly higher pharyngeal collapsibility (Vpassive: 44.9 [15.7 to 53.8] vs. 53.3 [34.2 to 66.3] %eupnea, p