Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Jul 10, 2015; 7(8): 769-776
Published online Jul 10, 2015. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v7.i8.769
Registered nurse-administered sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopic procedure
Somchai Amornyotin
Somchai Amornyotin, Department of Anesthesiology, Siriraj Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Center, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
Author contributions: Amornyotin S solely contributed to the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Somchai Amornyotin, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Siriraj Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Center, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, 999 Phuttamonthon 4 Road, Bangkok 10700, Thailand. somchai.amo@mahidol.ac.th
Telephone: +66-2-4197990 Fax: +66-2-4113256
Received: November 4, 2014
Peer-review started: November 10, 2014
First decision: December 17, 2014
Revised: December 24, 2014
Accepted: May 5, 2015
Article in press: May 8, 2015
Published online: July 10, 2015
Abstract

The rising use of nonanesthesiologist-administered sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy has clinical significances. Most endoscopic patients require some forms of sedation and/or anesthesia. The goals of this sedation are to guard the patient’s safety, minimize physical discomfort, to control behavior and to diminish psychological responses. Generally, moderate sedation for these procedures has been offered by the non-anesthesiologist by using benzodiazepines and/or opioids. Anesthesiologists and non-anesthesiologist personnel will need to work together for these challenges and for safety of the patients. The sedation training courses including clinical skills and knowledge are necessary for the registered nurses to facilitate the patient safety and the successful procedure. However, appropriate patient selection and preparation, adequate monitoring and regular training will ensure that the use of nurse-administered sedation is a feasible and safe technique for gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures.

Keywords: Registered nurse, Sedation, Gastrointestinal endoscopy, Safety, Complication

Core tip: The registered nurse-administered sedation for gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) procedures has clinical consequences. Generally, moderate (conscious) sedation for these procedures has been offered by the registered nurses by using benzodiazepines and/or opioids. Sedation training courses including clinical skills and knowledge are necessary for the registered nurses to facilitate the patient safety and the successful procedure. However, appropriate patient selection and preparation, adequate monitoring and regular training as well as anesthesiologist consultation in high risk cases and procedures will ensure the use of sedation by registered nurses is a safe and effective technique in GIE procedure.