Background & Objective: IV sedation has become established as an alternative to general anesthesia in dental treatment of patients with intellectual disability.
AIM: This study was designed to evaluate analgesic efficacy and clinical safety of intra
venous propofol sedation for handicapped, and determine the effect of gender, age, time of treatment on the recovery time for the patient.
Methods & Materials: Twenty eight handicapped patients with cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, Down syndrome, classified as ASA 1(15 males, 13 females) in the age-group of 3-34 years, and in the weight group of 10-60 kg were selected, Who had undergone deep intravenous sedation using a mean dose
of 2.5 mg/kg as only one dose before treatment. The handicapped were treated at maxillio-facial hospital
at Faculty of dentistry - Damascus University in the hospital setting then in the recovery room were observed for vital signs.
Results: IV sedation with propofol was effective for dental treatment in all cases. The dental proucedures were: extraction, ART, and scaling. The mean treatment time was 21 minutes. There was no significant effect for recovery time (p<0.05) with gender, age, weight of the patient and the time of treatment.
Conclusions: The results of this study showed that intravenous propofol sedation appears to be a safe and effective method for dental treatment of handicapped patients, when administered and monitored by a qualified anesthetist, offering the practitioner an alternative to general anesthesia.
