Grant: Project Grant

Dexmedetomidine is a type of sedative medication that is used to put patients to sleep while they are on a breathing machine recovering from a life-threatening illness. Dexmedetomidine is different than many of the common other sedatives that we use in intensive care unit (ICU), as it has been found to reduce the amount of confusion and delirium that patients experience, provides awake sedation, does not impact the respiratory drive, and treats pain. Older patients admitted to the ICU metabolize medications differently. In a recent study of 4000 patients admitted to the ICU, a specified sub-study found that dexmedetomidine may reduce the risk of death in patients with an age of 63.7 years or older. This trial aims to definitively determine if that is true. This is a randomised clinical trial where patients who are admitted to the ICU, over the age of 65, and requiring a breathing tube, will be sedated with either dexmedetomidine or placebo. We will follow the patients for 90 days and watch to see if survival is different between the two groups.