Effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU).

Anxiety is one of the emotions that are often reflected in children when they go to the pediatric

dentist's office, especially at the time of anesthesia placement, due to the pain it causes,
because with the traditional anesthesia technique, the pressure exerted on the tissues is not
so easy to control, nor the flow of the anesthetic solution.
In order to reduce the patient's sensation of pain and promote greater comfort, professionals
have developed a method of digital anesthesia, whose main characteristics are the precise
administration of the amount of anesthetic by injection without excessive pressure, creating a
painless procedure.
In the area of pediatric dentistry at the Dr. René Puig Bentz Clinic, the children who are
treated show anxiety before and during the procedures, even more so when the use of
conventional anesthesia is necessary. Currently, digital anesthesia is not used in pediatric
dentistry; therefore, it is important to know the benefits of using this anesthesia in terms of
children's emotional health, reduction of pain and work time.
The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of digital anesthesia in the
management of pain and anxiety in pediatric patients attending the Dr. René Puig Bentz
Dental Clinic of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña. To achieve this objective, a
sample of 50 children was analyzed (25 conventional and 25 digital); dental anxiety was
assessed before anesthesia using the VENHAM scale. Pain was assessed using the Wong
and Baker facial scale, and the VENHAM scale was used again to assess anxiety after
placement. Results showed that with the conventional technique (56%) had mild pain, (16%)
moderate and severe pain, while with the digital technique (52%) had no pain, (28%) very mild
pain, and (0%) moderate or severe pain. Forty-four percent reported mild anxiety after being
anesthetized with the conventional technique and (8%) reported no anxiety. Those
anesthetized with the digital technique (64%) had no anxiety, (36%) had mild anxiety, and
(0%) had moderate or severe anxiety. It was concluded that there is a difference in terms of
pain and anxiety in the application of both anesthesia techniques in pediatric patients.

焦虑是儿童前往儿科牙科诊所就诊时常出现的情绪之一，尤其在麻醉给药阶段更为显著——这源于麻醉操作引发的疼痛感；而传统麻醉技术难以精准控制组织受压程度与麻醉药液的输注流速。为减轻患儿的疼痛感知、提升就诊舒适度，牙科专业人员研发出数字化麻醉技术，其核心特点为可精准控制注射麻醉剂的剂量且不会施加过高压力，从而实现无痛诊疗操作。在勒内·普伊格·本茨博士诊所（Dr. René Puig Bentz Clinic）的儿科牙科诊室中，接受诊疗的儿童在术前及术中常出现焦虑情绪，在需使用传统麻醉时尤为明显。目前儿科牙科尚未普及数字化麻醉技术，因此探究该麻醉技术在改善儿童情绪健康、减轻疼痛及缩短诊疗时长方面的益处具有重要价值。本研究旨在评估数字化麻醉技术，在佩德罗·恩里克斯·乌雷尼亚国立大学（Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña）附属勒内·普伊格·本茨牙科诊所（Dr. René Puig Bentz Dental Clinic）就诊的儿科患者中的疼痛与焦虑管控效果。为达成该研究目标，本研究纳入50名儿童作为研究对象（25名接受传统麻醉，25名接受数字化麻醉）；麻醉前采用VENHAM量表（VENHAM scale）评估患儿的牙科焦虑程度，术后采用Wong-Baker面部表情量表（Wong and Baker facial scale）评估疼痛程度，并再次通过VENHAM量表评估麻醉后的焦虑水平。研究结果显示，采用传统麻醉技术的患儿中，56%表现为轻度疼痛，16%存在中度至重度疼痛；而采用数字化麻醉技术的患儿中，52%无疼痛症状，28%表现为极轻度疼痛，无中度或重度疼痛病例。接受传统麻醉的患儿中，44%术后存在轻度焦虑，8%无焦虑症状；接受数字化麻醉的患儿中，64%无焦虑症状，36%存在轻度焦虑，无中度或重度焦虑病例。综上可得出结论：两种麻醉技术应用于儿科患者时，在疼痛与焦虑管控效果方面存在显著差异。