New intravenous sedative combinations in oral surgery: a comparative study of nalbuphine or pentazocine with midazolam.

A randomised, double blind study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of nalbuphine or pentazocine with midazolam in patients undergoing minor oral surgery under local analgesia. Forty patients, aged between 17 and 48 years and in American Society of Anesthesiologists A.S.A. Class I participated. The results confirmed that the use of either nalbuphine (0.2 mg/kg) or pentazocine (0.5 mg/kg) allowed for a significant reduction in the mean dosage of midazolam required to produce satisfactory sedation when compared with trials where midazolam was used alone. Thus a mean midazolam, 0.087 mg/kg (nalbuphine group) or 0.081 mg/kg (pentazocine group) was required compared with 0.17 mg/kg (Aun et al., 1984) and 0.19 mg/kg (Skelley et al., 1984). Inadvertent overdosage with midazolam is prevented as the onset of sedation and its end-point are more obvious. No adverse cardiovascular or respiratory side effects were noted. The recovery rate for both groups was similar. Ninety-five per cent (39 of 40) of patients were able to walk unaided at 2 h post operation. At this time significantly more patients in the nalbuphine group were pain free (p less than 0.001). Both combinations provided excellent operating conditions with a high degree of safety and high patient acceptability. As the nalbuphine group enjoyed a more comfortable post-operative period this combination is favoured.