Incident and Extent of Pulse Rate and Oxygen Saturation Alteration during Local Anesthesia in Children

Introduction: Local anesthesia is routinely used for dental procedures in children. Hypoxia is the most important side effect which can be detected early by pulse oximeter during the procedure. The purpose of study is to investigate pulse rate and oxygen saturation alteration in children during LA administration. Aim: To estimate incident and extent of oxygen saturation and pulse rate alteration during local anesthesia in children. Objectives: 1) To estimate the variation of pulse rate during LA administration with and without vasoconstrictors. 2) To estimate the variation of oxygen saturation during LA administration with and without vasoconstrictors. Materials and Methods: 100 children from age group 6-12 yrs of age, who come for routine dental treatment will be selected for study. Pulse rate, oxygen saturation will be calculated before, during and after LA administration. Result: Significant variation in alteration of pulse rate is seen during LA administration which was not clinically considerable and less variation is seen in blood oxygen saturation levels. Conclusion: Pulse rate and oxygen saturation vary in anxious patients. Any major fluctuation in these variables which is noted early, may alert us to prevent any medical emergency during routine dental procedures.