Effect of sedation with midazolam and time to discharge among pediatric dental patients

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the recovery time of children who underwent conscious sedation with oral or rectal midazolam. Study design: The medical files in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry of all the children who underwent conscious sedation with midazolam between 3/2013-4/2016 were examined. The total duration of sedation and time to discharge were calculated. Descriptions of the children's behavior before and during sedation were compared. Results: The files of 120 children were retrieved. They included 64 girls, mean (± standard deviation) age 5.7 ± 2.67 years and 56 boys, mean age 4.9 ±1.06 years. The mean weight for the entire cohort was 18.7 ± 5.2 kg. Eighty-one children (67.5%) received oral sedation and 39 (32.5%) received rectal sedation. The mean total duration of sedation was 105 ± 26 min, and the mean time to discharge after treatment was 55:17 ± 22:30 min. A hundred and seven children exhibited positive behavior before undergoing sedation, but the behavior deteriorated during sedation in 36 cases. Conclusion: The time to discharge post-midazolam sedation correlated to the child's age and weight and total amount of administered midazolam. Sedation negatively affected behavior in 43.6% of the cases.