Multicenter survey reveals moderate pediatric sedation confidence in senior oral surgery residents, highlighting gaps in intramuscular anesthesia training.
Key Points
To assess self-reported confidence in managing pediatric sedation and evaluate associated training factors among final-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residents.
Conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter electronic survey across CODA-accredited United States oral and maxillofacial surgery residency programs during 2025–2026.
Surveyed final-year residents (N=61 respondents out of 108 reached across 25 programs; 56.5% response rate) using an instrument adapted from two validated resident confidence tools.
Evaluated outcomes using descriptive statistics, nonparametric analyses, and exploratory ordinal logistic regression.
Mean overall confidence was 3.54 (SD 0.96) on a 1–5 scale, with IV sedation having the highest self-rated proficiency (54.1% expertise level) and IM sedation the lowest (13.1% expertise level).
Autonomy as primary operator showed the strongest correlation with confidence (ρ = 0.651; p < 0.001), and procedural volume correlated positively across all four sedation modalities (ρ = 0.256–0.412).
Adverse events during training were reported by 72.1% of residents, while 23.0% reported receiving insufficient pediatric anesthesia education.