The effect of swabs soaked in bupivacaine and epinephrine for pain relief following simple dental extractions in children.

Abstract

We studied 133, ASA I or II children, aged 5-12 years undergoing general anaesthesia for simple dental extractions. Induction and maintenance of anaesthesia were achieved using sevoflurane in nitrous oxide and oxygen. At the end of surgery, patients had swabs soaked in a trial solution placed over the exposed teeth sockets. The bupivacaine group had swabs soaked in bupivacaine 0.25% with epinephrine 1:200 000, the saline group had swabs soaked in saline. Pain scores were recorded on a 4-point scale as follows: 0 = I don't hurt at all; 1 = I hurt a bit; 2 = I hurt a lot; 3 = I hurt the most. Nurse pain assessments and the patient's own scores were recorded at 15 and 30 min following recovery from anaesthesia. The median pain scores (2 at 15 min and 1 at 30 min postoperatively) were the same in both groups.