Author/Authors :
Reshetnikov, Aleksei P Departments of Surgery - Dental Clinic ReSto, - Izhevsk, Russia , Kasatkin, Anton A Departments of Surgery - Dental Clinic ReSto, - Izhevsk, Russia , Urakov, Aleksandr L Department of General and Clinical Pharmacology - Izhevsk State Medical Academy - Izhevsk, Russia , Baimurzin, Dmitrii Y Departments of Surgery - Dental Clinic ReSto, - Izhevsk, Russia
Abstract :
Pharmacological sedation is one of the effective ways of prevention of gag reflex development in
patients experiencing anxiety and fright before dental treatment. We are reporting a case where
we could successfully eliminate exaggerated gag reflex (intravenous [IV] Gagging Severity Index) in
a dental patient using IV sedation with dexmedetomidine. IV administration of dexmedetomidine
provided elimination of gag reflex at a depth of sedation for the patient with the Richmond
Agitation‑Sedation Scale score of −2 and −1. The patient received dexmedetomidine 1.0 μg/kg for
10 min and then a continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine 0.4 μg/kg/h. The use of dexmedetomidine
for sedation may be an alternative to other pharmacological agents in patients with dental anxiety
accompanied by exaggerated gag reflex.
Keywords :
Dentistry , dexmedetomidine , gagging , sedation
