Recovery from intravenous sedation with midazolam--the value of flumazenil.

A total of 40 patients receiving intravenous midazolam for surgical removal of impacted wisdom teeth were randomly assigned to recover either spontaneously or undergo reversal by the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil. Whilst initial postoperative recovery to a 'fully awake' state occurred more rapidly in the reversal group, objective psychomotor testing revealed significantly poorer performance postoperatively compared with spontaneously recovering patients; this emphasises the need to retain patients for at least 1 h prior to discharge home.