BACKGROUND: Pediatric dental procedures are increasingly performed under general anesthesia because of the inability to cooperate, situational anxiety, or other behavioral problems. Volatile anesthetics have been associated with emergence delirium in children, whereas the use of propofol for anesthetic maintenance has been shown to reduce the incidence of emergence delirium after other types of surgeries. The aim of this study is to compare a sevoflurane-based anesthetic with a propofol-based technique as it relates to the incidence of emergence delirium and the quality of recovery after pediatric dental surgery, in patients who present with risk factors for perioperative behavioral issues.
METHODS: We prospectively collected data of 179 pediatric patients scheduled for ambulatory dental surgery using a double-blind and randomized trial design. Subjects were anesthetized following standardized protocols for either a sevoflurane- or a propofol-based technique. The incidence of emergency delirium, as measured by the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium score, was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), number of nursing interventions in the recovery room, time to discharge readiness, and parental satisfaction.
RESULTS: We found no difference in the incidence of emergence delirium after both types of anesthesia. However, use of sevoflurane significantly increased both the risk of PONV and the number of postoperative nursing interventions. Discharge criteria were met about 10 min earlier in patients anesthetized with sevoflurane. Parental satisfaction was equally high with both anesthesia regimens.
CONCLUSIONS: A propofol-based anesthetic technique did not lead to a lower incidence of emergence delirium after dental surgery in children but did result in significantly less PONV and fewer postoperative nursing interventions.
