Evaluation of conscious sedation in facial plastic surgery.

Local anesthesia and conscious sedation are important aspects of facial plastic surgery. The safe and effective application of these techniques is important to produce happy, satisfied patients as well as good surgical results. Local anesthetic and sedative drugs will be discussed with respect to their mechanisms of action, doses, toxicities and appropriate selection. We will discuss the techniques we have developed using fentanyl and Versed and our evaluation of their effectiveness. Twenty sequential facial plastic surgical patients undergoing a total of 30 procedures will be reviewed. The average dose of fentanyl was 70 mcg and Versed was 3.1 mg. Significant amnesia occurred in 60% of patients, 80% experienced little or no discomfort and 90% would have no hesitation to undergo another procedure with similar anesthesia and sedation.