Evaluation of sedation in oral and maxillofacial surgery in ambulatory patients: failure and complications

Objectives. This study evaluated the failure and complication rates of sedation in ambulatory patients undergoing oral and maxillofacial surgery. Materials and Methods. This retrospective cohort study was carried out among 619 patients who had undergone maxillofacial surgical procedures under intravenous sedation with midazolam and fentanyl. Each patient's age, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, systemic condition, surgical procedure, complications, and failures were recorded for evaluation. Results. A total of 400 patients with ASA I, 199 with ASA II, and 20 with ASA III between the ages of 9 months and 84 years were included in the study. The most common systemic disorders in our patients were mental retardation (35%), hypertension (19%), and epilepsy (15%). Evaluation of the cases revealed 9 complications (1.4%) and 9 sedation failures (1.4%). The complications were bradycardia, postoperative agitation and hallucination, drug reaction, vomiting and nausea, desaturation, and hypotension. Conclusions. Our results in the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic revealed low complication and failure rates. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol 2012;114:592-596)