The Effects of Intrathecal Fentanyl on Sedation Depth and Postoperative Recovery Room Delirium

Table 1

Observer’s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) Scale.

Subscore	Responsiveness	Speech	Facial expression	Eyes
5	Responding readily to name spoken in normal tone	Normal	Normal	Clear, no ptosis
4	Lethargic response to name spoken in normal tone	Mild slowing or thickening	Mild relaxation	Glazed or mild ptosis
3	Responding only after name is spoken loudly and/or repeatedly	Slurring or prominent slowing	Marked relaxation (slack jaw)	Glazed and marked ptosis
2	Responding only after mild prodding or shaking	Few recognized words
1	Not responding to mild prodding or shaking

The final score is the sum of the responsiveness, speech, facial expression, and eyes component scores. Thus, a “wide awake” scores 5 and a “deeply sedated” scores 1.