The use of clonidine in elderly patients with delirium; pharmacokinetics and hemodynamic responses

Table 5 Hemodynamic variables before and during clonidine treatment

		Baseline	Day 1, 3 h after dose 1	Day 1, 3 h after dose 2	Day 1, 3 h after dose 3	Day 1, 3 h after dose 4	Day 2, before morning dose	Last measurement during treatment	Delta 1^a	Delta 2^b
Clonidine
SBP^c, mmHg	Median	141	138	130	133	128 ^d	135	137	−16	−10
	Range	124–190	121–182	106–184	125–160	98 – 153^d	81–170	102 – 238^e	− 61 - 40	−46 - 98
DBP^f, mmHg	Median	74	78	67	72	65^d	78	75	−5	−9
	Range	62–105	64–93	59–84	62–87	58–77^d	49–97	56–109	−24 - 28	− 23 - 40
HR^g, bpm^h	Median	89	85	79	66	67^d	84	76	− 6	−12
	Range	71–106	64–92	63–101	62–92	60–89^4d	72–90	62–146	−41 - 18	− 32 - 61
Placebo
SBP, mmHg	Median	130	132	134	118	170ⁱ	140	136	7	8
	Range	122–181	94–163	110–152	113–149	–	119–170	110–149	− 40 - 47	−56 - 19
DBP, mmHg	Median	72	76	72	70	85ⁱ	77	62	5	1
	Range	54–105	58–103	56–105	56–85	–	61–103	58–96	−27 - 19	−31 - 22
HR, bpm	Median	87	85	84	75	75ⁱ	84	80	1	1
	Range	53–123	58–105	64–106	58–88	–	65–140	64–130	−34 - 30	−36 - 36

Bold characters mark time points with a significant change in value from baseline (for SBP at 3 h after dose 2 and 4 (respectively p = 0.047 and p = 0.043), for DBP 3 h after dose 2 (p = 0.047) and for HR 3 h after dose 3 (p = 0.028)). The within group differences were otherwise not statistically significant
^abaseline to day 2, before morning dose
^bfrom baseline to last measurement during treatment
^cSBP = systolic blood pressure
^dMeasurements from 5 of 7 patients that received the 4th loading dose
^eOne patient had SBP 238 mmHg at the last measurement during treatment, as a part of a hypertensive pulmonary oedema
^fDBP = diastolic blood pressure
^gHR = heart rate
^hbpm = beats per minute
ⁱMeasurements only from one patient

ISSN: 2050-6511