ABILITY OF AMNESIA WITH IV SEDATION
Intravenous sedation with Midazolam, has the ability to produce anterograde amnesia or lack of recall.
For a typical 1 hour IV moderate sedation procedure in our dental office, most patients have little or no recall of most or all of the procedures.
The results of studies indicate that Midazolam is superior to other Benzodiazepines, or IV drug combinations, in providing anterograde amnesia. In some studies, over 70% of the patients did not recall being in the recovery room.
The depth of sedation has, to some degree, an effect on whether amnesia develops and on the duration of the amnestic period. In general, given the same patient and the same drug, more profound levels of sedation provide a greater likelihood of amnesia. The prime goal of sedation is to relax the patient. This factor is the reason I consider amnesia to be the icing on the cake.