Drugs and sedation for colonoscopy.

Sedation, with or without analgesia, is commonly used for colonoscopy procedures in the United States. Prudent drug product selection, careful titration of drug dosage to ensure use of the lowest effective dose (Table 1), and vigilant monitoring of medicated patients will optimize the value of conscious sedation in colonoscopy. When a close patient-physician relationship exists in the primary care setting, use of medications only "if needed" during the procedure may be a reasonable alternative that can minimize the exposure of patients to sedation-related side effects. Patient-controlled medication delivery may be one method used to address patient variability in the need for sedation.