The effect of sleep on conscious sedation

This study evaluated the effect of preoperative sleep on the success of conscious sedation. Thirty healthy children between the ages of 18 and 61 months of age were utilized in this study. The children all received chloral hydrate (50-60 mg/kg) and hydroxyzine (15-25 mg) and nitrous oxide (30-50%). Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire which asked several questions about their child's activity the previous day, their diet, and questions that related to their bedtime. The operator ranked the sedations on a scale from 1 to 4 with 1 being good and 4 being poor. The results were then statistically evaluated using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Walls tests. The children that received a normal amount of sleep or greater amount of sleep preoperatively had a borderline (P = .06) higher degree of successful sedation. There was no correlation between the child's bedtime (early, normal, late) and the success of sedation. The parent's perception of their child's tiredness could not be correlated with the success of the sedation. The children greater than 36 months of age had a significantly (P = .02) higher degree of successful sedations. The results suggest that a well rested child may experience a more pleasant dental sedation while under chloral hydrate and hydroxyzine conscious sedation and that the child's age at the time of the sedation may affect the outcome of the sedation.