The Influence of Age on the Effective Dosage of Intravenous Remimazolam for the Relief of Preoperative Anxiety in Pediatric Patients at Median and 95% Effective Doses: A Prospective Study.

PURPOSE

Preoperative anxiety is an urgent problem in pediatric patients. This trial evaluated intravenous remimazolam for preoperative sedation in pediatric patients, assessing efficacy, safety, and age-dependent dose effects.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this two-part study, Aged 1~6 years old, 293 ASA I-II children [Parental Separation Anxiety Score (PSAS) ≥3 after nonpharmacological interventions] were enrolled. Part I: children were divided into 5 groups according to their age, and the trial was conducted by the Dixon-Massey sequential method. The first child in each group received a dose of 0.3 mg/kg of remimazolam, with a drug dose gradient of 0.05 mg/kg. Part II: 150 children were randomly selected and assigned to receive remimazolam 0.2-0.3 mg/kg. The main observations of this study were sedation effect and safety.

RESULTS

The ED and 95% confidence interval (CI) for children aged 1-2 years was 0.14 (0.11-0.16) mg/kg, for children aged 2-3 years was 0.14 (0.11-0.17) mg/kg, for children aged 3-4 years was 0.16 (0.12-0.19) mg/kg, and for children aged 4-5 years was 0.14 (0.11-0.16) mg/kg, 5-6 years 0.13 (0.10-0.16) mg/kg, with no significant difference between age groups (P=0.525). The ED for preoperative sedation in children aged 1-6 years was 0.29 mg/kg (95% CI: 0.27-0.40). The difference in MOAA/S scores between the different dose groups in Part II was statistically significant (p<0.001) at 2 minutes after dosing. None of the adverse events that occurred after the use of remimazolam in this trial required the use of medication for intervention.

CONCLUSION

Remimazolam can be effectively used for preoperative sedation in children aged 1-6 years with low circulatory and respiratory effects, and there was no difference in the effective dose of the drug by age.