Nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation is a helpful method of calming children and adults when suturing and other painful minor surgical procedures are needed. It is within the scope of family physicians, pediatricians and emergency department physicians, and other medical doctors and our data1 indicate that it is quite safe when proper equipment and a thorough understanding of the technique are used....
In our opinion, of the different modalities available for sedation, nitrous oxideoxygen inhalation sedation is one of the safest, when properly used. This is especially so because its effects can be reversed rapidly with a few deep breaths. Certainly, it is much safer than the frequently used injectible cocktail mixtures of a sedative, tranquilizer and narcotic.
Editorial Comment.2 Griffin and colleagues ... report no recognizable problem. Their report is understandably enthusiastic; they admit to no "controls," and they do not attempt to quantify the resultant relief achieved....Will their committment to careful selection in carrying out their technique be replicated by others? ... Regardless of these concerns, the work of Griffin and colleagues cannot be disregarded out of hand; a comparable technique has been used in dentistry and while it is found objectionable by many anesthesiologists, largely on a hypothetical basis, its use has been deemed beneficial. Certainly replication of the current study should proceed: the outcome remains "not proved."
Comparative evaluation of changes in physiological and psychomotor effects in pediatric patients during extraction under different concentrations of nitrous oxide–oxygen inhalation sedation
