Local anesthesia affects physiologic parameters and reduces anesthesiologist intervention in children undergoing general anesthesia for dental rehabilitation.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of intraoperative local anesthetics in pediatric outpatient dental surgery. This study assessed physiologic stability, as defined by fluctuations in end-tidol carbon dioxide, heart rate, and respiratory rate, as well as subsequent anesthesiologist intervention.

METHODS

Forty-eight children (mean age = 3.87 years [+/- l.06 SD]) were included in this randomized, parallel-design study. Intervention variables and the research design were validated in a pilot study. Following collection of baseline vital signs, patients were either given local anesthesia before comprehensive dental treatment or not. Vital sign change was recorded 30 seconds after each procedure.

RESULTS

In the no local anesthetic group, 2 areas were found to be statistically significant: (1) postextraction end-tidal carbon dioxide; and (2) heart rate. There was a statistically significant relationship between local anesthetic use and anesthesiologist intervention when assessing the pooled data (P = .001).

CONCLUSION

Patients who were not given intraoperative local anesthesia were more likely to experience vital sign fluctuation requiring anesthesiologist intervention.