An observational study showed that gastroenterologist-led sedation could lead to unsafe ventilatory effects that reach dangerous levels.
In an observational study, researchers from the University of Vermont College of Medicine (UVCM), in Burlington, used a noninvasive ventilatory monitor to quantify the degree of respiratory depression in patients undergoing colonoscopy with GI-administered sedation.
“The majority of patients undergoing gastroenterologist-led sedation for colonoscopy experience respiratory depression to a potentially unsafe level,” said Karl Kristiansen, MD, a resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Dr Kristiansen conducted the research as a medical student at UVCM and presented on behalf of his colleagues Don Mathews, MD, Jackson Mathews, MD, and James Vecchio, MD.
The research was named one of four top poster presentations at “Driving Change in Ambulatory Anesthesia,” a 2016 joint meeting by the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia and American Society of Anesthesiologists. The presentation was given the meeting’s Excellence and Innovation Award honorable mention.
