Aj. Dickenson et Bs. Avery, A SURVEY OF IN-DWELLING INTRAVENOUS CANNULA USE IN GENERAL DENTAL PRACTICE, British Dental Journal, 179(3), 1995, pp. 89-92
A study to ascertain the use of in-dwelling intravenous cannulae in ge
neral dental practice was performed. A self-completion questionnaire w
as distributed to the 149 dental practitioners registered with the Cle
veland Family Health Services Authority. A total of 131 dentists (88%)
completed and returned the questionnaire: 58% of practitioners were p
ractising either general anaesthesia (GA) or intravenous sedation (IVS
) and 59% of these practitioners routinely used an in-dwelling intrave
nous cannula to administer the anaesthetic or sedative agents. This wa
s supervised by a medically qualified anaesthetist in 100% of GA cases
and 55% of IVS cases. Sixty per cent of respondents had received dida
ctic instruction at undergraduate level on gaining intravenous access,
but 72% of these stated that the teaching had been inadequate. Sevent
een per cent of the practitioners had never received formal training i
n gaining intravenous access. These results suggest the need for forma
l practical instruction in obtaining intravenous access may have to be
addressed.