Papers of the Week

Fear of orofacial interventions is a very common problem. Procedural sedation and/or analgesia (PSA) offers added value in reducing anxiety, pain and discomfort. At the Radboud University Medical Centre (Nijmegen, the Netherlands) PSA is conducted under the guidance of physician assistants, resulting in a high degree of patient satisfaction. In this study, the 115 surgeons' satisfaction with PSA procedures for outpatient orofacial surgical interventions was evaluated by means of questionnaires. The study's conclusion is that oral and maxillofacial surgeons are highly satisfied when PSA is administered to very anxious patients. The collaboration with the department of anaestesiology ensures that the outpatient interventions can be performed safely and efficiently by the oral and maxillofacial surgeon.