Search

Study Objective: The aim of the project was to compare the efficacy and safety of intranasal and intravenous dexmedetomidine (DEX) in procedural sedation for electroencephalogram (EEG) in patients with behavioural disorders. Design: observational monocentric comparative study Setting: Tertiary care centre Emergency Department Patients: all consecutive patients < 18 years old affected by behavioural disorders, who needed sedation for EEG recording. From 2018 to 2020 a group of children received intravenous administration of DEX, the following year a second group of children received intranasal administration of the same drug. Target of sedation was level 2, according to the Paediatric Sedation State Scale (PSSS) in both groups. Heart rate (HR), pulse oxygen saturation and blood pressure (BP) were registered. EEG recording quality and caregivers’ satisfaction were collected. Results: Twenty-four patients were sedated with intravenous and other twenty-four with intranasal DEX. Sedation success rate was 97.9%. Intranasal administration showed longer onset (p Conclusions: Considering our data dexmedetomidine is an effective and safe drug in patients with behavioural disorders. Intranasal administration could be useful as it is less invasive and with shorter offset. Clinical Trial registration: ID NCT 03799783; date registered: 10/01/2019

Interpersonal touch is intrinsically reciprocal since it entails a person promoting and another receiving the touch. While several studies have investigated the beneficial effects of receiving an affective touch, the affective experience of caressing another individual remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the hedonic and autonomic responses (skin conductance and heart rate) of people when they promote an affective touch. We also examined whether interpersonal relationship, gender, and eye contact modulate these responses. As expected, caressing the partner was perceived more pleasant then caressing a stranger, especially if the affective touch occurred together with mutual eye contact. Promoting an affective touch to the partner also resulted in a decrease of both autonomic responses and anxiety levels, suggesting the occurrence of a calming effect. Additionally, these effects were more pronounced in females compared to males, indicating that hedonic and autonomic aspects of affective touch are modulated by social relationships as well as by gender. These findings show for the first time that caressing a beloved one is not only pleasant, but also reduces autonomic responses and anxiety in the person promoting the touch. This might suggest that affective touch has an instrumental role for romantic partners in promoting and reinforcing their affective bonding.