Pre-emptive Local Anesthesia and Emergence Behavior After Pediatric Dental General Anesthesia

This is a prospective, single-center, assessor-blinded, parallel-group randomized controlled trial in children aged 7-12 years undergoing ambulatory dental treatment under general anesthesia.

Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to one of two groups: pre-emptive local anesthesia or no local anesthesia. In the pre-emptive local anesthesia group, local anesthesia will be administered by the pediatric dentist before the dental procedure according to the planned treatment area. In the no local anesthesia group, local anesthesia will not be routinely administered. If clinically required, rescue analgesia or additional local anesthesia may be administered at the discretion of the responsible clinician and will be recorded.

Preoperative anxiety will be assessed using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale. In the post-anesthesia care unit, sedation and arousal will be assessed using the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale before each emergence delirium and pain assessment. Emergence delirium will be evaluated using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium Scale at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 30 minutes after arrival in the post-anesthesia care unit, only when the child meets predefined arousal criteria. Pain will be assessed using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised at the same time points. Recovery quality before discharge will be assessed using the QoR-15 Pictorial form.

The study aims to determine whether reducing peri-emergence nociceptive input with pre-emptive local anesthesia improves emergence delirium severity, postoperative pain, and recovery quality in children undergoing ambulatory dental general anesthesia.

Inclusion criteria

• Children aged 7 to 12 years
• ASA physical status I or II
• Scheduled for ambulatory dental treatment under general anesthesia
• Ability to understand and respond to age-appropriate pain and recovery assessment tools
• Written informed consent obtained from a parent or legal guardian
• Child assent obtained when appropriate

Exclusion criteria

• Known allergy or contraindication to local anesthetic agents
• Developmental delay or cognitive impairment preventing assessment
• Autism spectrum disorder or severe behavioral disorder
• Neurological disease affecting behavior or consciousness
• Chronic analgesic or sedative medication use
• Severe hepatic, renal, cardiac, or respiratory disease
• Emergency dental procedure
• Need for postoperative hospital admission
• Inability to complete postoperative assessment tools