“…Indeed, 13 trials used dexmedetomidine in a general ICU setting [8], [12], [13], [26]–[29], [31]–[34], [37], ten in cardiac surgery ICU patients [7], [9], [10], [14], [15], [21], [24], [25], [30], [35], four in major non-cardiac surgery ICU patients [11], [22], [36], [38] and one after caesarean section-eclampsia admitted to ICU [23]. Different techniques of dexmedetomidine administration were used: in 18 trials the continuous infusion was preceded by a loading dose that was often 1 mcg/kg [13], [14], [17], [23], [24], [26], [28]–[30], [32], [33], [36] but that varied between 0.1 to 6 mcg/kg in other trials [11], [22], [25], [27], [30], [34], [37], [38]. In other 6 trials only continuous infusion was used and ranged between 0.1 to 2.5 mcg/kg/h [7]–[9], [15], [31], [35] while in one trial only the loading dose was used [10] and one trial gave no details [12].…”