Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study

Abstract Background Chronic pain patients often experience moderate to severe anxiety and depressive symptoms. Growing evidence supporting dexmedetomidine as a potential treatment for mental health conditions, research on its application in chronic pain patients with comorbid anxiety and depression...

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Main Authors: Yiting Ren, Peng Huang, Xiaohong Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Anesthesiology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-025-03087-x
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author Yiting Ren
Peng Huang
Xiaohong Jin
author_facet Yiting Ren
Peng Huang
Xiaohong Jin
author_sort Yiting Ren
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Chronic pain patients often experience moderate to severe anxiety and depressive symptoms. Growing evidence supporting dexmedetomidine as a potential treatment for mental health conditions, research on its application in chronic pain patients with comorbid anxiety and depression remains limited. Methods Patients who received intravenous infusions of dexmedetomidine during their interventional pain management procedures from January to July 2024 were compared to those who underwent similar procedures without dexmedetomidine infusion during the same period, utilizing propensity score matching. Results A total of 290 patients were included in the analysis from January to July 2024. Propensity score matching resulted in 92 matched pairs for further analysis. At the one-month follow-up, the perioperative application of dexmedetomidine was associated with a greater improvement in anxiety and depression disorders, as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, showing a reduction of -4.43 points (95% CI, -4.98 to -3.88) compared to -2.42 points (95% CI, -2.97 to -1.87) for the local analgesia group and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores indicated a reduction of -6.19 points (95% CI, -6.84 to -5.55) for the dexmedetomidine group versus -3.92 points (95% CI, -4.56 to -3.28) for the local analgesia group. The use of dexmedetomidine was also associated with a greater improvement of pain(-3.32 points vsurs -2.62 points). Conclusions Intraoperative dexmedetomidine significantly improves anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain. Therefore, dexmedetomidine may serve as a promising adjunctive treatment for chronic pain patients, particularly those with comorbid anxiety and depression. Clinical trial number Not applicable.
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spelling doaj-art-b0a6a01667e842a789481fe11183caa82025-08-20T03:52:20ZengBMCBMC Anesthesiology1471-22532025-04-0125111510.1186/s12871-025-03087-xDexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort studyYiting Ren0Peng Huang1Xiaohong Jin2Department of Anesthesiology and Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversityAbstract Background Chronic pain patients often experience moderate to severe anxiety and depressive symptoms. Growing evidence supporting dexmedetomidine as a potential treatment for mental health conditions, research on its application in chronic pain patients with comorbid anxiety and depression remains limited. Methods Patients who received intravenous infusions of dexmedetomidine during their interventional pain management procedures from January to July 2024 were compared to those who underwent similar procedures without dexmedetomidine infusion during the same period, utilizing propensity score matching. Results A total of 290 patients were included in the analysis from January to July 2024. Propensity score matching resulted in 92 matched pairs for further analysis. At the one-month follow-up, the perioperative application of dexmedetomidine was associated with a greater improvement in anxiety and depression disorders, as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, showing a reduction of -4.43 points (95% CI, -4.98 to -3.88) compared to -2.42 points (95% CI, -2.97 to -1.87) for the local analgesia group and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scores indicated a reduction of -6.19 points (95% CI, -6.84 to -5.55) for the dexmedetomidine group versus -3.92 points (95% CI, -4.56 to -3.28) for the local analgesia group. The use of dexmedetomidine was also associated with a greater improvement of pain(-3.32 points vsurs -2.62 points). Conclusions Intraoperative dexmedetomidine significantly improves anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain. Therefore, dexmedetomidine may serve as a promising adjunctive treatment for chronic pain patients, particularly those with comorbid anxiety and depression. Clinical trial number Not applicable.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-025-03087-xDexmedetomidineChronic painAnxietyDepression
spellingShingle Yiting Ren
Peng Huang
Xiaohong Jin
Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
BMC Anesthesiology
Dexmedetomidine
Chronic pain
Anxiety
Depression
title Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
title_full Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
title_fullStr Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
title_short Dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression: a propensity score matching cohort study
title_sort dexmedetomidine for chronic pain patients with anxiety and depression a propensity score matching cohort study
topic Dexmedetomidine
Chronic pain
Anxiety
Depression
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-025-03087-x
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AT xiaohongjin dexmedetomidineforchronicpainpatientswithanxietyanddepressionapropensityscorematchingcohortstudy