Effect of Diazepam Sedation on Arterial Oxygen Saturation and Patient Tolerance During Esophagogastroduodenoscopy

The impact of intravenous (I/V) diazepam sedation on arterial oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) and patient tolerance was studied in 100 patients in the age group of (27-60) years, who were subjected to esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for different indications. Equal number of patients in the same age group, who did not receive the sedation acted as controls. It was observed that SaO(2) showed a transient fall during the first few minutes of the endoscopic procedure even without sedation and diazepam administration did not significantly (p > 0.05) aggravate this oxygen desaturation. It was also observed that diazepam sedation increased the procedure tolerance of the patients when compared with controls (p < 0.01). In conclusion, it was inferred that I/V diazepam may act as a safe and favourable sedative for EGD.