Oral clonidine as a pre-anesthetic medication in hair transplantation surgery-A pilot study.

[BACKGROUND] Hair transplantation (HT) is a safe and rewarding procedure for a patient as well as the surgeon. Clonidine may be a good adjuvant in HT because of its analgesic, anxiolytic, and sedative effects.

[OBJECTIVE] To study efficacy of Clonidine as a preoperative medication in HT.

[METHODS & MATERIALS] The study was a prospective trial of 46 consecutive patients who underwent HT between January and May 2017. Patients with normal vital parameters on arrival were given Tab clonidine (0.1 mg) 30 min before starting of the procedure [Clonidine group (n = 30)]; rest were included in the control group (n = 16). Vitals were monitored every 30 min during surgery until the end. Patients were assessed for pain, level of sedation during surgery and for postoperative analgesia.

[RESULT] All patients who received clonidine, except one, were comfortable and experienced no pain throughout the duration of surgery; nine went into deep sleep. Of the 16 patients in the control group, no patients reported deep sleep, 3 felt restless, and 4 had mild pain. There were no untoward effects in both groups.

[CONCLUSION] Our study suggests that clonidine is useful as a pre-anesthetic medication in HT. However, this is a pilot study and further larger studies are needed.