Pre-endoscopic tachycardia predicts increased sedation dose and lower adenoma detection rate in patients undergoing...

Tachycardia prior to endoscopic procedures is commonly encountered which reflect patient anxiety status. Despite this frequent occurrence, it is unclear if in a patient with tachycardia sedation dose should be modified. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of pre-endoscopic tachycardia on sedation dose.

A retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent upper endoscopy and colonoscopy at EMMS Nazareth hospital were performed. We excluded patients with diseases and medications affecting the heart rate.

A total of 2855 patients were included in the study. Two-hundred and thirty-seven patients had tachycardia before endoscopy (8.3%, group A) as compared to 2618 (group B) patients who had heart rate ≤100 beats per minute. The mean dosage of propofol in group A was significantly higher (62.6±33.2 mg vs. 57.4±29.9 mg) than in group B (P=0.01). There was no difference in the cecal intubation rate among the two groups (P=0.9). Notably, the adenoma detection rate was significantly lower among group A patients as compared to group B (13.6% vs. 22.8%, P=0.02) patients. There were no sedation related complications.

Tachycardia prior to endoscopic procedures was associated with higher sedative dosage and lower adenoma detection rate, however no major complications were recorded. These data should be taken into consideration to optimize procedure quality.