252 - Assessing Pediatric Dental Discharge Using Recovery Scores

Purpose:   The aim of this prospective study was to improve pediatric dental sedation discharge criteria by validating the use of the Modified Aldrete Score (MAS) and Vancouver Recovery Score (VRS).

Methods:   This study included 40 children, 6 years or younger, who received dental treatment under moderate sedation The patients were scored by a sedation nurse and an observing resident using the MAS and VRS pre-operative and post-operative. A short parent survey about the patient’s behavior and recovery after leaving the office also was collected.

Results:   Pre-operatively, the median VRS was 22 and median MAS was 10.  Post-operatively at 20 minutes, the median VRS and MAS remained 22 and 10.  The resident’s and nurse’s VRS scores post-operatively agreed for 84% of cases and MAS scores agreed 100%.

Conclusion:   The VRS and MAS scores are global scales that show potential to quantify discharge criteria after pediatric dental sedation.