Table 3. Postoperative Outcomes and Hematologic Data.

Patients	Low-Dose Fentanyl Plus Placebo	Low-Dose Fentanyl Plus Dexmedetomidine	High-Dose Fentanyl Plus Placebo	p
Length of CTICU stay (d)	1 (1–4)	2 (1–5)	1 (1–8)	0.5995
Length of hospital stay (d)	5 (3–15)	5 (3–23)	5.5 (3–32)	0.5561
Time on ventilator (hr)	3.79 (0–16)	2.4 (0–2.4)	10.75 (0–27.32)	0.43
Inotropic score on CTICU admission	2.5 (0–2.5)	2.5 (0–5)	2.5 (0–5)	0.2541
Inotropic score on postoperative day 1	2.5 (0–2.5)	2.5 (0–7.5)	2.5 (0–5)	0.1728
Bloodless throughout hospitalization (n, %)	0 (0)	0 (0)	4 (23.5)	0.0286
Preoperative platelet count (K/cu mm)	345 (216–511)	357 (187–521)	326 (201–696)	0.9681
Postoperative platelet count (K/cu mm)	106 (48–250)	116 (48–250)	132 (75–287)	0.5500
Postoperative prothrombin time (s)	20 (17.5–24.7)	19.2 (15.9–24.7)	18.8 (15.9–21.5)*	0.0466
Postoperative partial thromboplastin time (s)	42.5 (32–86)	44 (30–250)	40 (28–61)	0.3365
Postoperative international normalized ratio	1.7 (1.5–2.3)	1.6 (1.3–2.3)	1.6 (1.3–1.9)*	0.1018
Postoperative fibrinogen (mg/dL)	118 (68–165)	135 (68–222)	143 (93–222)#	0.1882
Postoperative absolute neutrophil count (cells/cu mm)	7,260 (3,100–16,184)	8,643 (4,514–13,272)	9,380 (3,690–16,960)#	0.1343

CTICU = cardiothoracic ICU.

^*p ≤ 0.03 versus low-dose fentanyl plus placebo.

^#p = 0.07 versus low-dose fentanyl plus placebo.

Data represent median (range) unless otherwise specified.