COMPARISON OF INDUCTION AND RECOVERY BETWEEN SEVOFLURANE AND HALOTHANE SUPPLEMENTATION OF ANESTHESIA IN CHILDREN UNDERGOING OUTPATIENT DENTAL EXTRACTIONS

We have compared sevoflurane and halothane in a double-blind controlle d study for supplementation of nitrous oxide and oxygen anaesthesia in 80 children undergoing dental extraction as outpatients. Induction of anaesthesia was more rapid in those who received sevoflurane compared with those who received halothane (89 s compared with 127 s for loss of eyelash reflex). In both groups, mean duration of administration of anaesthesia was less than 4 min. Those who received sevoflurane were slower to awaken (167 s compared with 102 s), although discharge times from hospital were similar. The incidence of complications during ind uction and maintenance was low in both groups and return to normal app etite and activity occurred in the majority of children on the same da y. More children who received halothane suffered nausea after leaving hospital. We conclude that sevoflurane is a suitable alternative to ha lothane, with more rapid induction of anaesthesia, but in these short procedures, awakening time was slower than after halothane.