Abstract
The purpose of this study was to observe the changes in the internal and external behavior of child patients under no sedation and under sedation with nitrous oxide/oxygen in halation in order to lessen the stress of local anesthesia.
Sixty children (37 boys and 23 girls) who were well behaved and were from 3 years and 2 months to 11 years of age were examined.
The R-R interval (RR), and BE as the physical expression (BE) and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were used as the indexes for changes in internal and external behavior, respectively.
The effects of the stress of local anesthesia were investigated among children of difference ages and who were also administered local anesthesia several times with and without nitrous inhalation sedation, and which were called the local anesthesia with sedation group and local anesthesia group, respectively.
The results are summarized as follows:
1. There relief of pain was seen with local anesthesia in the sedation group with the children being very calm and lenitive, more than the local anesthesia group based on RR, BE and VAS.
2. The hypertonic of internal behavior (RR) at the time of injection was clearly seen in the group with the injection of local anesthesia. Otherwise in the group with local anesthesia with sedation, changes in RR were not found, and those of BE decreased with age.
3. No changes in RR, BE and VAS were found in the group with local anesthesia and the group with local anesthesia with sedation based on applied the same individuals several times.
4. Pain (VAS) was strongly complained of the 5-7 years old group at the time of the initial injection in the group with local anesthesia, while a change in RR, BE and VAS was not found in the group with local anesthesia with sedation based on administering to the same individuals several times. These results suggest that nitrous oxide/oxygen inhalation sedation is tends to inflict pain at the time of injection more than local anesthesia only.
