Perioperative Patient Safety and Procedural Sedation

The use of sedation administered by nonanesthesia providers has increased exponentially over the past decade. Moderate sedation is safe but has potential adverse reactions such as hypoxemia, apnea, hypotension, airway obstruction, and cardiopulmonary arrest. Patient safety is the responsibility of every person on the perioperative team and relies on an effective sedation delivery system to keep the patient from harm. Performing safe and effective sedation involves several aspects of sedation, including the persons administering the sedation, the educational processes involved, the environment in which the sedation is conducted, patient-specific information processes, and guidelines and protocols of the institution. Future areas of research in clinical studies include safety and efficacy studies, applications of new technology, and procedural sedation and analgesia adjuncts.