Incidence of oxygen desaturation during oral surgery outpatient procedures

The frequency, severity, and duration of oxygen desaturation during oral surgical procedures in outpatients was measured. Sixty patients divided into six groups received either lidocaine; lidocaine, diazepam, and meperidine; lidocaine, diazepam, meperidine, and headphone music; lidocaine, diazepam, meperidine, and nitrous oxide; lidocaine, diazepam, meperidine, methohexital, and nitrous oxide; or lidocaine and nitrous oxide. Forty-three percent of the 30 patients who did not receive supplemental oxygen experienced clinically significant oxygen desaturation (greater than 5%) with a mean duration of 4.6 minutes. Only 13% of the patients who received supplemental oxygen had significant desaturation ranging from ten seconds to 12.3 minutes with a mean duration of 1.4 minutes. An unexpected finding was hypoxia in patients receiving only lidocaine anesthesia.