Patient satisfaction with conscious sedation for ambulatory colonoscopy in a community hospital

Patient acceptance of ambulatory colonoscopy is important for colon cancer screening programs to be successful. The goal of this study was to assess patient satisfaction with the method of conscious sedation that is standard in most endoscopy units. The authors also attempted to identify patient characteristics associated with a poor sedation experience. The findings suggest that 90% of ambulatory patients undergoing colonoscopy are adequately sedated with the standard meperidine midazolam regimen. The only patient characteristic found to predict poor sedation response was the preceding use of a prescription narcotic as an outpatient.