2023, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A

Direct laryngoscopy and intubation can lead to increase in heart rate and blood pressure by 20-27% and 30-50% respectively

It produces stimulation of laryngeal and tracheal sensory receptors resulting in a marked increase in the release of sympathetic amines and may cause a hypertensive crisis.

Clonidine has anti-hypertensive properties and helps to enhance the effects of anaesthetic agents while decreasing their requirements intraoperatively and simultaneously also providing post operative analgesia, hence we consider it to be an ideal agent to blunt the pressor response to laryngoscopy and intubation.

Here we have studied the clinical efficacy of intravenous clonidine an alpha 2 agonist in a dose of 1mcg/kg as pre medication for laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation in patients undergoing general anaesthesia

There was a significant difference in the haemodynamic parameters such as heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and mean arterial pressures without much change from baseline in the patients premedicated with clonidine as compared to those who were premedicated with placebo, immediately at and 5 minutes post intubation.

Clonidine given intravenously as premedication in a dose of 1mcg/kg can safely attenuate the pressor response to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation.