Paschoal Laércio Armonia

Assessment of cardiovascular parameters during dental procedures under the effect of benzodiazepines: a double blind study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiovascular parameters during dental procedures: systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressures, and heart rate. Nineteen healthy normotensive patients (18-56 years of age) received restorative treatment on three maxillary molars. The patients were continuously monitored by a non-invasive automatic monitor for blood pressure and heart rate during the pre-, trans-, and post-operative periods at the following stages: 15 min prior to anesthesia; during topical anesthesia; during infiltrative anesthesia; for 5 minutes immediately after; during cavity preparation; during restorative procedure; for 10 min after completion. Patients were divided into three groups: A (without pre-medication), B (preceded by 10 mg diazepam), and C (preceded by placebo). All patients received infiltrative anesthesia containing 1.8 mL of 2% lidocaine (36 mg) with epinephrine 1:100,000 (18 microg). There were no changes in the parameters during the clinical procedures. When groups were compared, there were significant differences in diastolic arterial pressures during anesthesia.

Anesthetic Efficacy in Irreversible Pulpitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Inferior alveolar nerve block has a high failure rate in the treatment of mandibular posterior teeth with irreversible pulpitis. The aim of this study was to compare the anesthetic efficacy of 4% articaine, 2% lidocaine and 2% mepivacaine, all in combination with 1:100,000 epinephrine, in patients with irreversible pulpitis of permanent mandibular molars during a pulpectomy procedure. Sixty-six volunteers from the Emergency Center of the School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, randomly received 3.6 mL of local anesthetic as a conventional inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB). The subjective signal of lip numbness, pulpal anesthesia and absence of pain during the pulpectomy procedure were evaluated respectively, by questioning the patient, stimulation using an electric pulp tester and a verbal analogue scale. All patients reported the subjective signal of lip numbness. Regarding pulpal anesthesia success as measured with the pulp tester, the success rate was respectively 68.2% for mepivacaine, 63.6% for articaine and 63.6% for lidocaine. Regarding patients who reported no pain or mild pain during the pulpectomy, the success rate was, respectively 72.7% for mepivacaine, 63.6% for articaine and 54.5% for lidocaine. These differences were not statistically significant. Neither of the solutions resulted in 100% anesthetic success in patients with irreversible pulpitis of mandibular molars.

Cardiovascular Alterations After Injection of 2% Lidocaine With Norepinephrine 1:50,000 (Xylestesin) in Rats

The purpose of the present study is to determine the cardiovascular effects produced by intravascular injection of 2% lidocaine with 20 microg/mL of norepinephrine on systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures and heart rate of rats at the following times: control period, during the injection (first 15 seconds), during the first minute, and at the end of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes after drug administration. The study was performed on 13 male Wistar rats with weights between 200 grams and 220 grams that were awake during the recording of these parameters. The dose administered was proportional to 1 cartridge of local anesthetic (1.8 mL) in an average-size human, which is equivalent to 0.51 mg/kg of lidocaine hydrochloride and 0.51 microg/kg of norepinephrine hydrochloride. The average time of injection was 15.7 seconds. The results of this study showed significant increases in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure and a noticeable decrease in heart rate. The greatest variation occurred in the systolic blood pressure. The greatest alterations occurred during injection and within the first minute following administration of the anesthetic solution. We would anticipate these changes in the parameters analyzed to be clinically significant. Thus, dentists using 2% lidocaine with norepinephrine 20 mug/mL should be very careful to avoid intravascular injection.