Lost in the avalanche of pandemic-related news last year was the commercial release of remimazolam (Byfavo, Acacia Pharma), formally announced on January 28, 2021. The journey of this highly anticipated novel benzodiazepine from discovery to market has been long and arduous. However, its arrival seems to herald a significant advancement for sedation and anesthesia for dentistry. The goal of identifying an ultrashort-acting benzodiazepine began in the late 1990s in the wake of remifentanil's discovery by the pharmaceutical company Glaxo Wellcome. Although several promising compounds were identified, Glaxo Wellcome opted to move forward with CNS 7259, formally named remimazolam in 2010.
Factors related to perioperative dental injury have likely changed as a variety of airway devices and preventive measures have been introduced. This retrospective chart review used data from an institutional registry to evaluate the incidence, timing, and contributing factors of patient self-reported dental injury and to assess the impact of dental injury on patient satisfaction. Multivariate logistic analysis was performed on the records of 14,820 patients using the incidence of dental injury as the dependent variable and covariates in the anesthesia registry and a postoperative questionnaire as independent variables to investigate factors significantly associated perioperative dental injury. In addition, satisfaction with the anesthesia service was compared between patients with and without injury using a matched-pair population. A total of 101 dental injuries were identified. Of those, 25% were associated with intubation and extubation in the operating room, while most other injuries occurred postoperatively. Duration of anesthesia (odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00–1.03) and emergency surgery (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.11–3.30) were independently associated with perioperative dental injury. Dental injury did not significantly decrease a patient's satisfaction with the anesthesia service (P = .441). Most perioperative dental injuries are unrelated to anesthesia procedures. However, the duration of anesthesia and emergency surgery were significantly associated with perioperative dental injury, while decreased patient satisfaction was not.
Objective:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion:
The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to assess using a periodontal ligament (PDL) injection as an aide to decrease palatal infiltration pain. A total of 133 subjects randomly received a PDL injection and alternative palatal infiltration or a mock PDL injection and conventional palatal infiltration at 2 separate appointments. PDL injection was given in the mid-palatal sulcus of the maxillary first molar. Mock PDL injection consisted of only needle insertion. All subjects then received a palatal infiltration administered into the blanched gingival tissue 3 mm (alternative palatal infiltration) or 7 mm (conventional palatal infiltration) from the gingival collar. Subjects recorded needle insertion and solution deposition pain using a Heft-Parker visual analog scale (VAS). The combined PDL injection and alternative palatal infiltration had significantly decreased mean VAS ratings for needle insertion and solution deposition pain (P < .0001). Incidence of moderate/severe pain for needle insertion and solution deposition was reduced from 65% to 1% and from 65% to 2%, respectively. Providing PDL anesthesia into the mid-palatal sulcus of the maxillary first molar and then administering an alternative palatal infiltration into the blanched collar around the PDL molar site led to significant reductions in needle insertion and solution deposition pain compared with a mock PDL and conventional palatal infiltration.
Objective:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion:
The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after general anesthesia with total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) was reported to be significantly lower than with volatile inhalational agents (13.3% vs 25%). However, no investigation of PONV risk factors associated with TIVA has ever been reported. This cross-sectional retrospective study aimed to investigate whether known risk factors influenced PONV in intubated general anesthetics utilizing TIVA for dental or oral and maxillofacial surgery. Subjects were 761 patients who underwent dental or oral and maxillofacial surgery under TIVA with propofol, fentanyl, and remifentanil. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed using PONV (within 24 hours) as the dependent variable and previously reported risk factors as independent variables. Age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.020 per year decrease; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0002–1.0418; P = .047) and female sex (OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.60–4.84; P < .001) were positively associated with PONV. Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) (OR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.21–4.33; P = .011) and bimaxillary osteotomy (OR: 5.69; 95% CI: 2.09–15.99; P < .001) were more likely to be associated with PONV than operations that were neither bimaxillary osteotomy nor SSRO. Late PONV (2–24 hours) had an ∼2.7 times higher incidence than early PONV (0–2 hours). These findings suggest further PONV countermeasures, aside from TIVA with propofol and prophylactic antiemetics for orthognathic surgeries especially bimaxillary osteotomy, are needed.
Objective:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion:
This study aimed to determine the effect of music as an intervention on relieving preoperative anxiety in patients with dental fear in an outpatient operating room (OR) before intravenous sedation (IVS). Sixty adult patients with dental fear undergoing dental surgery under IVS were divided into 2 groups (music and nonmusic). The music group listened to music in the waiting room until immediately before the initiation of IVS whereas the nonmusic group did not. Patient anxiety was objectively measured using heart rate variability (HRV) analysis to assess the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio as an indication of sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system activity. Subjective preoperative anxiety was evaluated with a visual analog scale (VAS). Heart rate variability analysis failed to demonstrate any significant difference between the 2 groups from baseline to start of IVS. There were also no significant differences between the 2 groups regarding changes in VAS scores. Music intervention was not found to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients with dental fear before IVS in the dental outpatient OR as determined by HRV analysis or VAS scores.
Objective:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion:
An ideal local anesthetic would be effective, minimally reduce pulpal blood flow (PBF), and not require injection. This study compared the effects of 3% tetracaine plus 0.05% oxymetazoline nasal spray (Kovanaze; KNS) and injections using 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine (LE) or 3% mepivacaine plain (MP) on PBF, anesthetic efficacy, and participant preference. In a double-blind cross-over design, 20 subjects randomly received a test anesthetic and placebo at each of 3 visits (KNS/mock infiltration; mock nasal spray/LE; or mock nasal spray/MP). Nasal sprays and infiltration apical to a maxillary central incisor were delivered ipsilaterally. PBF was evaluated by laser Doppler flowmetry, and local anesthetic success was assessed with electric pulp testing. Postoperative pain levels, participant preference, and adverse events were also assessed. LE injections demonstrated significant reductions in PBF at all time intervals compared with baseline (P < .05), whereas KNS and MP did not. Pulpal anesthesia success rates were higher for LE (85%) compared with MP (35%) and KNS (5%). Participants reported significantly higher postoperative pain levels for KNS compared with LE and MP. Additionally, KNS was the least preferred of the anesthetics administered and resulted in more reported adverse events. Although KNS showed no significant effect on PBF, it was not effective in achieving pulpal anesthesia as used in this study.
Objective:
Methods:
Results:
Conclusion:
Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare sleep disorder characterized by periodic hypersomnia and behavioral or cognitive disturbances. Although prolonged emergence from general anesthesia and postoperative hypersomnia may occur in a patient with KLS, there is little information about the safe anesthetic management of these patients. We describe the case of a 22-year-old female previously diagnosed with KLS who was scheduled to have her third molars extracted under general anesthesia. Because the patient had symptoms of periodic hypersomnia and hyperphagia, the surgery was scheduled during a KLS crisis interval. General anesthesia was induced with propofol, remifentanil, and rocuronium, and maintained with desflurane and remifentanil. To prevent overuse of anesthetic agents, an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based depth of anesthesia monitor (SedLine; Masimo Corporation) was used intraoperatively. A neuromuscular monitor was also used to carefully titrate use of a neuromuscular blocking agent. After surgery, sugammadex was administered, and the patient quickly emerged within 10 minutes, as also confirmed by the EEG monitor. She had no KLS recurrence postoperatively. When anesthetizing patients with KLS, an EEG-based depth of anesthesia monitor and neuromuscular monitor may be warranted to ensure complete emergence from general anesthesia. In addition, elective surgery should be planned during crises intervals.
Traditional retrograde intubation consists of tracheal intubation performed over a guide wire inserted into the trachea inferior to the vocal cords and then passed transorally or transnasally. This intubation technique is reserved for patients with a difficult airway when other methods such as blind nasal intubation or video laryngoscopy fail. A guide wire passed blindly in a retrograde fashion, however, is not without its own constraints. This case report presents the anesthetic management of a 23-year-old Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient with substantial scarring from a previous tracheostomy stoma and limited mouth opening. The patient underwent a retrograde fiber-optic transnasal intubation without the use of a guide wire for a tracheostomy revision procedure, followed by a second tracheostomy revision and retrograde fiber-optic transoral intubation 7.5 months later. This report demonstrates a novel technique for intubating patients with difficult airways. The use of a flexible fiber-optic bronchoscope for a retrograde intubation mitigates complications that can arise using traditional retrograde intubation over a guide wire and increases the likelihood of successful intubation.
We report a case of severe bradycardia during general anesthesia due to reduced atrioventricular conduction capacity believed to have been caused by the trigeminocardiac reflex (TCR). A 46-year-old woman was scheduled for intraoral scar revision under general anesthesia. When the surgeon opened her mouth intraoperatively, the patient's blood pressure immediately increased, and she developed significant bradycardia and a transient Mobitz type II second-degree atrioventricular block. It was assumed that the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (V-3) was stimulated by the surgeon stretching the patient's mouth open while remifentanil simultaneously provided sympatholytic effects, resulting in activation of the TCR. The patient quickly responded well to atropine and had no additional complications.
Reversal agents are defined as any drug used to counteract the pharmacologic effects of another drug. Several pharmacologic antagonists serve as essential drugs in the contemporary practices of sedation providers and anesthesiologists. Reversal or “antidote” drugs, such as flumazenil and naloxone, are often used in unintentional overdose situations involving significant benzodiazepine- and/or opioid-induced respiratory depression. Within the context of skeletal muscle relaxation, neostigmine and sugammadex are routinely used to reverse the effects of nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents. In addition, the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine is used in dentistry as a local anesthetic reversal agent, decreasing its duration of action by inducing vasodilation. This review article discusses the pharmacology, uses, practical implications, adverse effects, and precautions needed for flumazenil, naloxone, neostigmine, sugammadex, and phentolamine within the context of sedation and anesthesia practice for dentistry.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists, along with experts from 10 national and international collaborating organizations, presents an updated report of the practice guidelines for management of the difficult airway. Comment: This report from the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Management of the Difficult Airway is an update from the 2013 version, the source of the most recent difficult airway algorithm. At 50 pages, this comprehensive and detailed practice guideline is a major expansion ofApfelbaum J, Hagberg C, Connis R, et al. 2022 American Society of Anesthesiologists practice guidelines for management of the difficult airway. Anesthesiology. 2022;136(1):31-81. doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000004002.