Office-based ambulatory sedation--the use of the airway protector system during oral surgery: a prospective audit of the first 100 patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the "Airway Protector System" (APS), a simple homemade device used for airway control during office-based dental sedation.

Patients And Methods: A prospective audit was performed in 100 severely dental phobic patients submitted to dental treatment in a dentist office under propofol sedation.

Results: Sixty-eight females and 32 males were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 45 +/- 7 years (range, 18 to 67 years). A clear airway was obtained in 94 patients. Partial airway obstruction was observed in 4 patients but manual lifting of the jaw was enough to free the partial obstruction and dental treatment was uneventfully conducted. In 2 patients, the APS had to be converted to formal nasotracheal intubation because jaw-lifting maneuvers did not adequately relieve a partial airway obstruction. Sore throat was reported in 56 patients. In 27 cases, the patients rated the complaint as severe. No patient required a chest x-ray after sedation, as there was no clinical evidence of any pulmonary complication including dyspnea, cough, or fever.

Conclusion: We suggest that the concomitant use of a homemade cuffed nasopharyngeal airway with continuous suction facilitates airway control during deep levels of office-based sedation for dental treatment in severely dental phobic patients.