What is IV sedation?

Answer 1

I had it when I had my cataracts done on my eyes and my husband had it when he got some teeth pulled. It's a Valium drip (aka: Twilight sleep) and it works on the brain like amnesia. You are in and out of slumber and can hear what the doctor and others are saying, but really don't care and feel no pain. They should bottle it! The anesthesiologist will give you the right dose to your weight and monitor you. Depending on how long you are out and if you are an out patient you should be almost out of the effects of the sedation by the time they take you to the recovery room where they will monitor your heart rate and blood pressure for 15 - 20 minutes, give you coffee, tea and a muffin and then let your mate or friend drive you home. Although I didn't feel at all like I would from a regular anesthetic my husband had to drive me home. I was able to make dinner when I got home and just felt fine. If you have any concerns please either phone your doctor or go see him and ask any questions that you need.

ANOTHER ANSWERSINCE YOUR QUESTION was listed under "Dental Health Questions", I will assume you will be having a good bit of dental work done. The procedure is referred to as "Conscious Sedation." It can be done right in the dentists' office. Before the dentist begins, there is another doctor on site who is an ANAESTHESIOLOGIST. He will set up an I.V. (intravenous drip) into a vein on your arm or hand. His sole responsibility is to maintain you in a comfortable, dazed, painless yet conscious state, while the dentist works on your teeth. The "drip" contains an anti-anxiety medication such as Valium, and in most cases, it also contains a painkiller such as Demerol. The doctor adjusts the dose until you are almost out cold, but awake just enough to follow directions from the dentist to open your mouth, turn your head etc... You are in a "happy zone" with no pain. The anaesthesiologist monitors your vital signs (breathing, heart rate etc...) the entire time you are under. When you wake up after the work is done, you are a little "dazed" and remember nothing. When you are fully awake, you need someone to help you out to the vehicle, and drive you home. When my wife had it done, she asked me (about 10-15 times) if I remembered to write a check to the dentist! She also asked me what time it was (about 10-15 times)!! She slowly got back to normal and remembered nothing of the dental procedure, and reportedly remembered no pain at all. The dentist will usually give you a prescription for pain pills to use as the medication you were given begins to wear off. Soon you are back to normal and lying on your sofa, enjoying a little snooze! As Marcy stated, you sort of have amnesia for a while. After extensive dental work, my wife was a "happy little camper"!!! Also, depending on the type of work or surgery being done, many times the doctors may choose to do it in a hospital, using the same procedure, on an out-patient basis (in before noon and out by 4:00) Conscious sedation is perfect for people who are scared, nervous and apprehensive. Plus it is safer than general anaesthesia, where you are completely unconscious. I hope I helped you, and possibly alleviated any fears you may have had. <<>>

ANOTHER ANSWER!

I am currently on rotation of a Sedation Department (Dental) and I would like to add to these answers. Most people do not fall asleep, you generally stay awake while under IV sedation, and it most defiantly does NOT stop you feeling pain. It's Midazolam, it is not a General Anaesthetic, and it does not block out pain. The Midazolam is usually given so that the patient will feel more relaxed, and will feel more willing to receive a Local Anaesthetic Injection. A person under Sedation needs a lot of reassuring. Signs of sedation include half-closed eye lids, and if you ask the patient to touch their nose with one finger, they may struggle to do so, and may find it amusing that they no longer remember whereabouts on their face their nose is situated! If you give a person sedation, then try to extract their tooth without a Local Anaesthetic, the sedated patient will defiantly let you know about it! Most people do experience slight memory loss. The amount of Midazolam, or any other sedative, that a person receives is not determined by their weight, although overweight people cannot have sedation. The patient should be kept in recovery for 1 hour after the last increment of sedatives is administered, they should have a suitable escort with them at all times during the treatment, and the escort should stay with them for the rest of the day. The patient should relax for the rest of the day, and should not be cooking etc as the memory loss can last after the main effects of sedation have wore off. For example, someone who had IV Sedation in the morning, could put something in the oven later that day, and forget all about it. A light meal should be eaten 2 hours before the sedation appointment. This ensures the patients blood sugar levels are normal, and lessens the risk of fainting. If the patient has not eaten before the appointment, a glucose drink can be given, and the patient should be closely monitored throughout the treatment.

AND ANOTHER!

Just to make clear, the medications used when sedating someone can vary incredibly.

Working on Liver Intensive Care Unit, we sedate people, to the extreme end of the spectrum and we do not use Midazolam.

ANOTHER ANSWER:

I've had several endoscopic procedures - both upper GI endoscopies and colonoscopies. About to have my 4th endoscopy this time an endoscopic ultrasound. It's been my experience that the combination of drugs used for conscious sedation for endoscopic procedures are Versed - a mild anesthetic/anti-anxiety drug in the same class as Valium (a benzodiazapine) and Demerol - a pain killer. Versed will make you feel drowsy and it has an amnesiac property in that you won't remember anything that went on in your procedure. It's called conscious sedation because you're not truly anesthetized like for major surgery. You will be able to respond to doctor and nurse commands during your procedure but you won't remember any of this. The Demerol is administered to prevent you from feeling pain during the procedure. Both drugs are dosed according to your weight, age and general physical condition. The Versed will generally be initially administered at a 5 mg. dose in a relatively healthy average adult and increased as necessary to achieve the desired level of sedation. Demerol doses for myself have generally been 100-150 mg. with the higher level for colonoscopies vs. endoscopies. You will generally recover very quickly after the procedure and the facility/office will make sure that you're able to drink and swallow properly before releasing you to a responsible adult to drive you home. General notes on upper endoscopies: very painless and smooth - never had a problem with one or any pain after one.

The only general prep for an upper endoscopy is nothing by mouth for 12 hours before the procedure. General notes on colonoscopies - the prep is the worst part of the process. You will have to drink around a gallon of a very salty not very good tasting liquid that will drive all the contents of your bowels out of you in short order - plan to spend a fair amount of time on the toilet a few hours after you start the prep. The only other warning I will give you on colonoscopies is that they introduce a large amount of air into your colon during the colonoscopy in order to better view it but the result can be severe gas pains for several hours after the procedure. I've had relatives that have had no pains after a colonoscopy but I had extreme pain after my first 2 colonoscopies so for my 3rd one last year I asked doctor to give me a higher dose of demerol and he gave me 150 mg. and I felt no pain afterwards for the first time. They also gave me 25 mg. of Phenergen at the beginning of the sedation. Phenergen is a very good anti-nausea drug. If you've ever taken it orally you know that it will make you very sleepy in short order so you can imagine the effect of receiving it by IV - I was out like a light but it also acted to relieve the gas pain afterwards. If you're sensitive to gas pain I would suggest asking your GI doctor for a higher dose of Demerol and possibly some IV Phenergen when they sedate you.

Answer 2

It is an iv and they inkest medicine threw the tube to sedate u and could put you to sleep during an operation.