Kiran S, et al. - The clinical efficacy of dexmedetomidine vs fentanyl as an additive to ropivacaine for epidural anesthesia was assessed herein. In terms of duration and intensity of analgesia, epidural anesthesia achieved with 10 μg dexmedetomidine as an additive to 0.5% ropivacaine was shown to be more effective, relative to 0.5% ropivacaine alone or addition of 20 μg fentanyl to 0.5% ropivacaine.