More Sedation Anesthesia Procedures Being Performed In Office-Based Settings

Research published in Anesthesia Progress suggests there is a trend of more sedation anesthesia dental procedures being performed in an office-based setting, rather than a hospital setting, particularly for pediatric care. “Comparison of Anesthesia for Dental/Oral Surgery by Office-based Dentist Anesthesiologists Versus Operating Room-based Physician Anesthesiologists” was conducted by collaborative teams from the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and the University of California, San Diego.

Investigators used data from the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry and Society for Ambu – latory Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry to compare 7133 office-based procedures performed by dentist anesthesiologists with 106,420 in-hospital procedures provided by physician anesthesiologists. The study notes a correlation between early childhood caries and the need for anesthesia during dental procedures. The researchers also found the overall cost of pediatric dental procedures with anesthesia performed in a hospital-based setting has increased between three and four times than that of 20 years ago, suggesting that office-based anesthesia may be a more cost-effective alternative.

From Decisions in Dentistry. April 2018;4(4):10.