Intravenous or rectal administration of sedatives in outpatient oral surgery

A number of cross-over studies on sedation in outpatient oral surgery investigated the quality of sedation produced by intravenous or rectal administration of diazepam. The sedation methods were equally efficient with a mean dose of 0.24 mg/kg (range 0.1-0.4) for i.v. administration and 0.53 mg/kg (range 0.5-0.6) for rectal administration. Eighty-five per cent of the patients preferred surgery under sedation and local anaesthesia to local anaesthesia alone. The patients preferred the session in which they experienced stronger sedation, regardless of the route of administration.