Analysis of the effect of oral midazolam and triazolam premedication before general anesthesia in patients with disabilities with difficulty in cooperation

The use of general anaesthesia in special care dentistry: A clinical guideline from the British Society for Disability and Oral Health

Background

General anaesthesia (GA) may be required to support the care of those seen in Special Care Dentistry (SCD) services for various reasons, such as enabling extensive dental care for people with severe learning disabilities or severe dental phobia. Guidance is needed for teams delivering SCD using GA due to the potential risks, implications, and costs of using GA to deliver dental care.

Aim

To present evidence‐based recommendations, where possible, for teams involved in providing GA for dental care for adults within SCD services.

Methods

A multidisciplinary working group, supported by a formal literature search and stakeholder involvement, iteratively produced and refined the recommendations presented.

Results

There was little evidence to inform the guidelines. Recommendations are therefore based mainly on the working group's expert consensus opinion. Clinical guidelines are presented as a set of overarching principles followed by six key sections reflecting patients' pathways from referral to dental services through to their care during and after GA.

Conclusion

Guidelines are presented to support those providing GA to provide SCD. The need for comprehensive and person‐centered assessment and planning is emphasized.

Dental treatment under general anesthesia for patients with severe disabilities

Patients with disabilities have difficulties tolerating in-office dental treatment due to limitations relating to cooperation and/or physical problems. Therefore, they often require general anesthesia or sedation to facilitate safe treatment. When deciding on dental treatment under general anesthesia, the plan should be carefully determined because compared to general patients, patients with disabilities are more likely to experience anesthetic complications because of their underlying medical conditions and potential drug interactions. Clinicians prefer simpler and more aggressive dental treatment procedures, such as extraction, since patients with impairment have difficulty maintaining oral hygiene, resulting in a high incidence of recurrent caries or restorative failures. This study aimed to review the available literature and discuss what dentists and anesthesiologists should consider when providing dental treatment to patients with severe disability under general anesthesia.

Difficult intubation caused by an immature upper airway in a patient with cri-du-chat syndrome: a case report

Cri-du-chat syndrome (CdCS) is caused by the deletion of the short arm of chromosome 5. Most patients with CdCS develop intellectual disabilities. Therefore, they have poor oral hygiene and a high caries index. However, treating such patients is not an easy task, because of the difficulty in communication. General anesthesia may be a useful option in adult patients with CdCS and intellectual disability. General anesthesia should be administered very carefully, owing to the presence of comorbid diseases, which may need airway management. Infants with CdCS need general anesthesia if they have a concomitant cardiac anomaly. Intubation is reportedly difficult for such patients was, owing to the structural and functional abnormalities in the larynx and vocal cords. The purpose of this study was to report a case of difficult intubation while inducing general anesthesia in a patient with CdCS during dental treatment, due to a narrow larynx and trachea.