Dexmedetomidine in Seizure Patients

Completed · Phase 1

Conditions studied: Seizure Disorders

In brief

Dexmedetomidine is an alpha-2 agonist commonly used during neurosurgery due to its unique properties as a sedative and anxiolytic with minimal respiratory depression. Neurosurgical patients frequently come to the operating room on anticonvulsant therapy with a history of seizures. The investigators clinical experience suggests that these patients are resistant to the sedative effects of dexmedetomidine. This effect may represent a pharmacokinetic interaction between the anticonvulsant medications and dexmedetomidine or the higher dexmedetomidine dose requirement could result from abnormal pharmacodynamics due to the underlying seizure disorder. The investigators study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences of dexmedetomidine between patients receiving and not receiving enzyme-inducing anticonvulsant therapy and to identify a potential mechanism for these differences.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01116700

Run by

University of California, San Francisco

People needed

16

Starts

2010-12-01

Expected to finish

2012-02-01

Last updated by the study team

2013-08-09

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Age 18-65, BMI 20-25 kg/m2
• Anticonvulsant Group: Diagnosis of seizure disorder taking carbamazepine or phenytoin for a minimum of 2 weeks
• Control Group: Healthy volunteers taking no medications

You may not qualify if…

• Positive urine pregnancy test or lactating
• History of allergy to dexmedetomidine or alpha -2 agonists
• History of liver, renal or thyroid disease
• History of cardiovascular disease including history of arrhythmia or congestive heart failure
• History of drug or alcohol abuse

Where it is running

• University of California San Francisco — San Francisco, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.