Effect of IQ Level on the Depth of General Anesthesia in Mentally Challenged Patients during Dental Procedures

BIS (bispectralindex) indicates brain activity, and therefore, the depth of general anesthesia. Mentally challenged patients have different degrees of brain impairment and different levels of intelligence; as a result, it is expected that the BIS score of these patientswill be different from that of healthy patients during general anesthesia. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the BIS score and the severity of mental disability during general anesthesia for dental procedures.

Forty-four mentally challenged patients were selected and included in this cross-sectional descriptive/analytical study. After giving the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices test to the patients, they were classified into different groups in terms of theseverity of mental disability. After giving and maintaining the same general anesthesia level to the patients, BIS scores were calculated at 5-, 15-, 30-and 45-minute intervals after induction of anesthesia. BIS scores were compared at various degrees ofmental deficiency, and possible correlations were evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test and Spearman’s correlation test with SPSS 22 (α = 0.05).

There were no statistically significant differences in BIS scores between various degrees of mental deficiency except for the 30-minute interval after the induction of general anesthesia (p value = 0.025).

In this study, the severity of mental deficiency did not affect the depth of general anesthesia except for the 30-minute interval after its induction.