Pre-emptive Local Anesthesia and Sevoflurane Consumption in Pediatric Dental Anesthesia

This study will evaluate whether pre-emptive local anesthesia reduces sevoflurane consumption during pediatric day-case dental treatment performed under general anesthesia. Children aged 4 to 12 years scheduled for elective dental treatment under general anesthesia will be included. Participants will be assigned to either receive pre-emptive local anesthesia before the dental procedure or receive no pre-emptive local anesthesia. General anesthesia will be standardized using sevoflurane, low fresh gas flow, endotracheal intubation, and bispectral index monitoring. The main outcome will be sevoflurane consumption expressed as mL/kg/hour. Secondary outcomes will include anesthetic agent uptake, time from sevoflurane discontinuation to extubation, and estimated carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions. The aim is to determine whether pre-emptive local anesthesia can reduce volatile anesthetic requirement and improve early recovery while maintaining adequate anesthetic depth in children undergoing dental general anesthesia.