TABLE 1.

The characteristics of the included studies.

Study	Race	Range of age	ASA satus	Type of surgery/procedure	Intervention route	Dosage	Sample size	Outcome
Sado-Filho et al. (12)	Brazil	1–7 year	I–II	Dental procedures	DEX by MAD DEX + Ketamine by MAD	2.5 μg/kg 2 μg/kg + 1 mg/kg	D:44 D + K:44	➀➄➅➆
Azizkhani et al. (36)	Iran	1–6 year	/	Computerized tomography (CT)	Dex by MAD Midazolam by MAD	3 μg/kg 0.3mg/kg	D:78 M:68	➄➅
Sathyamoorthy et al. (13)	United States	>5 year	I-II	Dental procedures	DEX by MAD oral midazolam	2 μg/kg 0.5 mg/kg	D:36 M:37	➀➂➆
Abdel-Ghaffar et al. (14)	Egypt	3–7 year	I-II	Bone marrow biopsy	nebulised DEX nebulised ketamine nebulised midazolam	2 μg/kg 2 mg/kg 0.2 mg/kg	D:30 M:30 K:30	➀➁➂➃➅➆
Miller et al. (19)	United States	3–24 month	I-II	Transthoracic echocardiographic	DEX by MAD oral pentobarbital	2.5 μg/kg 5mg/kg	D:140 P:139	➀➃➄➆
Yuen et al. (18)	China	<4 year	/	Computerized tomographic(CT)	DEX by MAD oraL choral hydrate	3 μg/kg 50mg/kg	D:87 C:107	➀➆
Qiao et al. (16)	China	2–6 year	I-II	Eye surgery	nebulized DEX oral ketamine nebulized DEX + oral K	2.5 μg/kg 6mg/kg 2μg/kg + 3mg/kg	D:42 K:41 D + K:41	➀➄➅➆
Cao et al. (11)	China	3 month–3 year	I-II	Ophthalmic examination	DEX by MAD oral chloral hydrate	2 μg/kg 80mg/kg	D:71 C:70	➀➁➄➅➆
Neville et al. (15)	United States	1–5 year	/	Laceration repair	DEX by MAD midazolam by MAD	2 μg/kg 0.4 mg/kg	D:20 M:18	➀➆
Zanaty et al. (17)	Egypt	3–6 year	I-II	Dental surgery	nebulized DEX nebulized ketamine nebulized D and K	2 μg/kg 2 mg/kg 1 μg/kg + 1mg/kg	D:20 K:20 DK:20	➀➁➂➃➅➆

➀ satisfactory sedative, ➁ satisfactory separation from parents, ➂ satisfactory mask acceptance, ➃ emergency agitation, ➄ onset of sedation, ➅ recovery time, ➆ adverse events. DEX, dexmedetomidine, MAD, mucosal atomization device; D, dexmedetomidine; K, ketamine; M, midazolam; P, pentobarbital; C, chloral hydrate.