Effect of Local Anesthesia on Postoperative Pain with General Anesthesia

摘要

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine if the use of local anesthesia with general anesthesia results in less postoperative pain. The alternative hypothesis is that children will experience less postoperative discomfort when utilizing intraligamental local anesthetic during the intra-operative time period. Methods: Patients were recruited for this single blind, randomized, prospective cohort study with the following inclusion criteria: English speaking children age 3-6 years, ASA I/II requiring general anesthesia for dental treatment. Randomization was done to place patients in groups of no local anesthetic vs. local anesthetic administration. A Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale was utilized to evaluate pre-operative and postoperative pain. Data were compared using a two way mixed model ANCOVA controlling for sex, ethnicity, pre-op pain, and intra-op meds given. Results: Data was collected and evaluated on 90 patients. There was a statistically significant difference in postoperative pain for patients who received extractions without local anesthesia vs. those with local anesthetic. There was no statistically significant difference in pain outcomes based solely on whether local anesthetic was administered regardless of treatment type. Conclusions: The outcome of this study shows evidence for provision of local anesthetic during general anesthesia in patients receiving extractions to reduce postoperative pain.