Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine Enhances Postoperative Microcirculation and Reduces Acute Kidney Injury in Cardiac Surgery: A Double-Blind Randomized Trial.

Patients in the dexmedetomidine group maintained higher postoperative proportion of perfused vessels and perfused vessel density compared to the saline group, with a significant interaction effect for perfused vessel density.

Baseline perfused vessel density was comparable between the two study groups (17.5 [15.9-18.6] vs 18.0 [16.1-19.8] mm/mm², p = 0.540).

At 48 hours postoperatively, patients in the dexmedetomidine group had significantly higher PVD values than those in the saline group (17.0 [15.0-19.0] vs 15.6 [13.7-16.9] mm/mm²; P = 0.041).

The dexmedetomidine group also had significantly higher intraoperative urine output (950 vs 605 mL, p = 0.002).