Safety Protocols for Administering Sedation During Colonoscopy Screenings Remains an Important Issue

With recent reports addressing both the benefits and abuse of Diprivan (propofol), the Coalition Board has just published an issue brief recommending that national standards be established and followed to protect patients and optimize clinical outcomes.

“Patient safety should be the top priority in all discussions related to colon cancer screening. Current guidelines and nationally accepted standards require that the administration of propofol be administered by properly-trained personnel,” comments Dr. Steven Morris, MD JD FACP FACG, Coalition Board Chairperson and CEO of Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates, LLC. As one example, he notes that “Anesthesiologist-directed sedation for endoscopic procedures is the current best practice and should become a uniform standard of care.”

The issue brief entitled, “Coalition Statement Regarding the Administration of Propofol by Clinical Personnel in The Absence of Anesthesiologists or CRNAs,” can be downloaded at www.preventingcolorectalcancer.org

“Most efforts to discredit Anesthesiologist-directed sedation fail to adequately distinguish and correlate the pharmacological impact of propofol with other sedatives. The reality is that propofol can be dispensed in a number of ways and with a combination of other sedatives,” notes Dr. Stanford Plavin, Coalition Board Vice Chairperson and managing partner of Ambulatory Anesthesia of Atlanta, P.C. He adds “In all cases, patient complications can arise, and it is imperative that appropriate licensed and trained providers are on hand to rescue any patient that is in distress.”

Mark L. Casner, Chief Executive Officer of Safe Sedation adds that “Several recent studies indicate that when patients undergoing a colonoscopy are placed under monitored anesthesia care, the procedure generates a higher number of polyps detected and removed. These findings highlight a major advantage of Anesthesiologist directed sedation.”

The Issue Brief helps explain how propofol is used as an anesthetic agent in conjunction with colonoscopy screenings; and highlights the importance of using Board certified Anesthesiologists (MDs) or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to dispense the sedative and monitor the patient throughout the procedure.