Comparison of Patient Comfort During the First Stage of Conventional Versus Modified Two-Stage Inferior Alveolar Nerve Blocks in Pediatric Patients

Our aim was to compare the comfort of pediatric patients during the first stage of the conventional 2-stage inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) versus the modified 2-stage IANB. This was a parallel group, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Pediatric patients meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated to 1 of the 2 groups receiving IANB, group 1 (31 subjects) utilized a conventional 2-stage technique, and group 2 (33 subjects) utilized a modified 2-stage approach. Patient comfort was assessed indirectly by 2 observers using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale during the first stage of the injections. FLACC score data between the 2 groups were analyzed using the chi-square test, and interobserver reliability was measured using kappa statistics. During the first stage of the injections, lower FLACC scores of 0 indicating a relaxed/comfortable patient experience were found in 57.6% of group 2 subjects compared with only 25.8% group 1 subjects, which was a statistically significant difference (p-value .013). Interobserver reliability assessed using kappa coefficients (κ = 0.812) indicated excellent agreement. FLACC scores for the pediatric patients during the first stage of the modified 2-stage IANB technique were significantly lower than during the first stage of the conventional 2-stage IANB technique.