Factors affecting efficacy of oral trimeprazine sedation for dental procedures in children: A retrospective study

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of factors such as age, gender and pre-operative behavior rating on the outcome of sedation using oral trimeprazine during dental treatment of children.MethodRecords of children who received dental treatment under sedation with oral trimeprazine between 2000 and 2007 were reviewed and the following data were obtained: age and weight of patient at the time of treatment, gender, behavior classification prior to sedation, dose of medication used, efficacy of sedation and treatment accomplished. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations and χ2 analysis were done.ResultForty-eight sedation sessions met the inclusive criteria for children whose mean age was 4.92 (SD 1.65, range 3.0–8.0) years and mean weight was 18.23 (SD 4.82, range: 12.0–31.0) kg. Overall, 54.2% (26/48) of the sedations were rated successful, 20.8% (10/48) were partially successful and 25.0% (12/48) not successful. Younger children 3–5 years, and those with only negative pre-operative behavior rating had more successful sedation sessions than older, 6–8 years or children with definitely negative pre-operative behavior rating (X2 = 8.165, p = .017) and (X2 = 17.258, p = .001), respectively.ConclusionVariables such as patient’s age and pre-operative behavior but not gender and type of treatment could predict outcome of dental sedation using trimeprazine in children.