Abstract: Background Dexmedetomidine is a novel and highly selective a2-adrenoceptor agonist with sedative, analgesic, anxiolytic and antisympathetic properties. It can reduce the requirements of perioperative anesthetics，attenuate stress reaction，promote hemodynamics stable and alleviate postoperative pain, then improve perioperative comfort of patient. Objective Summarize the relevant studies and conduct a review on advances in analgesia use of dexmedetomidine. Content Account the analgesia mechanisms of dexmedetomidine and discuss its clinical application for analgesia in perioperation, ICU and outpatient. Trend The analgesia mechanism of dexmedetomidine is still unclear, but it has been more and more widely used in analgesia.