Pre-medication for endoscopy. A trial of atropine, pentazocine or pethidine as a supplement to diazepam.

The effects of giving atropine, pentazocine or pethidine, 30--45 minutes before intravenous diazepam have been assessed and compared with a control group given diazepam alone in a double-blind controlled trial of pre-medication for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy involving 143 patients and 6 endoscopists. Atropine or pentazocine increased the success rate of the procedure (p 0.007) but gave no other definite benefit. Pethidine improved the degree of sedation (p 0.01) and the success rate (p 0.007); the combination of pethidine given before diazepam ranked first of all the four treatment regimes. The patients' opinion of the procedure correlated with the duration of endoscopy and the experience of the endoscopist.