Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 5/3/2007

Question
I've had IV sedation 3 times by 3 different oral surgeons and had different experiences.
1.  No awareness, came to quickly afterwards.
2.  No awareness even leaving office and awoke at home.
3.  Awareness during procedure.
What can I do to ensure that #1 is what I get next time?

Answer
ACtually nothing. Assuming all three gave you appropriate doses, your situation is not unusual. The drugs we give will likely cause amnesia but it is not guaranteed. Of couse if you are in pain, they can always give you more but they won't know that you remembered until after the procedure is done. Anestheisa is an art not a science so we try to titrate to effect. Sometimes we overestimate and sometimes under. Most of the time we get it right though.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston