Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare the postoperative morbidities for 24 hours following dental care under day-stay general anesthesia using sevoflurane or halothane in intellectually disabled children.
Materials and methods: Eighty-six premedicated patients with intellectual disabilities underwent general anesthesia for their dental treatment. They were randomly given anesthesia maintained with sevoflurane (2% to 3%) or halothane (1% to 1.5%) after receiving inhalation induction either with sevoflurane (8%) or halothane (5%) and nitrous oxide in oxygen (50:50). The patients' age, gender, weight, ASA Class, type of dental treatment, and duration of anesthesia and operation were recorded as well as the time required for recovery (Aldrete Scale) and the length of time taken before they were discharged (postanesthetic discharge scoring system) from the hospital. Pain and agitation were recorded using a visual analog scale (0 to 10). Other postoperative morbidities, which include crying, nausea and vomiting, bleeding, and drowsiness, were also noted for 24 hours after the operation.
Results: The most common morbidities during the postoperative 24 hours were agitation and pain, and their occurrence was significantly more common in the sevoflurane group than in the halothane group (P < .05). The recovery time was shorter in the sevoflurane group, but it was not statistically significant. There was no difference between the groups in the discharge time.
Conclusions: Apart from more postoperative agitation and pain after awakening from sevoflurane, the quality of recovery was similar for both sevoflurane and halothane.