ABSTRACT
This study was done to compare the incidence of syncope in supine position versus semi supine position during administration of local anesthesia for dental surgery procedures among the local population. One thousand healthy patients presenting for tooth extraction at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Karachi from 15th January 2007 to 31st August 2007 were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups. In Group A patients were administered local anesthetic injection in supine position i.e. with patients head and heart at the same level, while in the Group B patients were administered local anesthesia in semi-supine position. There were 1000 patients requiring tooth extraction under local anesthesia with an age range of 15-47years [Mean 28.31 +/- 8.55years]. It was noted that 135 patients [27%] treated in supine position had pre-syncope symptoms while 245 patients [49%] had pre-syncope symptoms in semi supine position. The difference was statistically significant [P< 0.0001]. No patient fainted in supine position in this study. It was concluded that it was easy to prevent syncope if all patients are placed in a supine position before hand