Oral midazolam for sedation in minor oral operations in children: a retrospective study.

Our aim was to find out the optimal dose of oral midazolam to sedate children according to age. Thirty-five patients aged 10 or under who had minor oral operations under sedation with midazolam were enrolled. Correlations between age (X) and dose of midazolam (mg/kg; Y) were analysed by Pearson's correlation coefficient, and relations were fitted by simple regression. Doses of midazolam were significantly reduced as age increased (Y=0.969-0.04X; R=0.48) in the satisfactory group (n=25), whereas those in the overdose group (n=10) (patients who vomited, became agitated, or took some time to come round) were significantly higher, decreased with age, and showed a better correlation coefficient (Y=1.375-0.65X; R=0.78). These findings suggest that both the requirement and threshold of midazolam decreases with age.