Overweight Children Faced Higher Hypoxemia Odds During Deep Dental Sedation

Posted: September 10, 2026

Overweight Children Faced Higher Hypoxemia Odds During Deep Dental Sedation

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Overweight and obese children had more than three times the odds of developing hypoxemia during deep sedation for dental treatment as normal-weight children did, according to a retrospective cohort study published Aug. 28 in the Journal of Anesthesia.

The study reviewed 512 children ages 2–10 who received propofol-ketamine deep sedation for comprehensive dental care. New-onset intraoperative hypoxemia occurred in 273 of them, or 53.3%.

After adjustment, overweight or obese children had 3.393 times the odds of hypoxemia compared with normal-weight children, at a 95% confidence interval of 1.596–7.213 and P = .002.

Longer procedure duration was the other independent risk factor, with an odds ratio of 1.116 at a 95% confidence interval of 1.083–1.150 and P less than .001. Ketamine and propofol doses showed no significant association with hypoxemia.

The study defined hypoxemia as a sustained decrease in oxygen saturation below 95% for at least 10 seconds. A sensitivity analysis using a stricter threshold of saturation below 90% produced consistent findings.

Ali Sevgili of the department of anesthesiology and reanimation at Sanliurfa Haliliye Oral and Dental Health Hospital and Sinan Degirmencioglu of the department of anesthesiology and reanimation at Konya City Hospital, both in Turkey, conducted the study.

The design was retrospective and drew on a single center, and the authors note that evidence on how body habitus affects respiratory safety during pediatric dental sedation remains limited. The findings describe an association and do not establish a sedation protocol.

Sources:
Journal of Anesthesia, “Association between body mass index z-score and hypoxemia during pediatric dental sedation: a retrospective cohort study,” published Aug. 28, 2026:
link.springer.com/10.1007/s00540-026-03879-6
PubMed record:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42663656


Overweight Children Faced Higher Hypoxemia Odds During Deep Dental Sedation

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