You won't be completely unconscious, but you'll sleep through the procedure and probably have no memory of it. The medication commonly used for deep sedation is propofol, which is not an opioid. It acts fast, wears off quickly, and is safe for most patients.
Propofol works quickly; most patients are unconscious within five minutes. "When the procedure is over and we stop the intravenous drip, it generally takes only 10 to 15 minutes before he or she is fairly wide awake again.”
When you arrive for the procedure, you'll be given some sedatives to relax you. You'll lie on your left side on an exam table, and you'll likely fall asleep. The doctor will insert the colonoscope into your rectum and pump air into the colon to get a better view of your colon's lining.
For most patients, a sedative is given in intravenous form to help relax and minimize any discomfort during the procedure. But did you know that using a sedative is optional? In many countries, sedation-free colonoscopies are the norm. Patients are alert and engaged during the procedure.
Moderate sedation.
This is one of the most common forms of sedation used. The medications are usually midazolam and fentanyl – a mild sedative and a pain killer. This is a nice, safe combination, and usually causes amnesia for the procedure.
Regardless, many people are anxious or fearful before a medical procedure, especially if they're worried their doctor may find cancer. The bottom line: it's worth it. If you're at an average risk, you only have to have a colonoscopy once every 5 to 10 years.
Sedation
A nurse will administer a sedative through an IV to numb your body, so you feel no pain. You will feel sleepy during this procedure, but you will not completely fall asleep. It is sedation, not anesthesia. Still, it means your colonoscopy is not painful.
Colonoscopies aren't usually painful because most patients receive a sedative before the procedure starts. The sedative makes you so sleepy that you usually don't feel or remember anything of the procedure.
Most often, either moderate sedation or deep sedation with the anesthetic propofol are used for colonoscopies. An anesthesiologist is sometimes present for moderate sedation — sometimes called conscious sedation by patients, though the term is technically incorrect.
You may need a catheter (fine plastic drain tube) put in your front passage to drain the urine from your bladder until you are able to pass urine comfortably on your own.
Most patients who undergo colonoscopy receive sedation with medications such as midazolam, fentanyl, or propofol. They continue breathing on their own, without needing a breathing tube. Sedation can be safely managed even in the case of an obese patient with sleep apnea.
After the test, you may be bloated or have gas pains. You may need to pass gas. If a biopsy was done or a polyp was removed, you may have streaks of blood in your stool (feces) for a few days. Problems such as heavy rectal bleeding may not occur until several weeks after the test.
Screening colonoscopy for colorectal cancer is a commonly performed procedure with an established survival benefit. Up to one-third of patients experience abdominal pain, nausea, or bloating afterward, which may last hours to several days.
After the exam, it takes about an hour to begin to recover from the sedative. You'll need someone to take you home because it can take up to a day for the full effects of the sedative to wear off. Don't drive or make important decisions or go back to work for the rest of the day.
Due to the sedation, it is unlikely the patient will remember the colonoscopy itself. Once the procedure is over, the patient will need about 30-60 minutes to recover from the sedation before getting dressed and leaving the building.
It could take 2 to 3 days before you have a bowel movement after your colonoscopy because you completely emptied your colon and rectum ahead of the procedure. You may notice a little bit of blood in your first stool after your colonoscopy, especially if your doctor removed a polyp or took a biopsy of abnormal tissue.
If you're having general anesthesia, an anesthesiologist will give you medications that make you lose consciousness. After the surgery is complete, he or she will reverse the medication so that you regain consciousness — but you won't be wide awake right away.
Insufflation of the bowel is necessary to improve visualization during colonoscopy, but it is one of the main causes of the abdominal pain experienced by the patient.
Conclusions: Combining colonoscopy with three-quadrant hemorrhoidal ligation is a safe and effective method of treating symptomatic internal hemorrhoids. The procedure is convenient for both physician and patient and makes more efficient use of time and resources.
Your body is completely covered during the exam.
You may be wondering how much of your body is exposed during a colonoscopy. But don't worry about being embarrassed or exposed — you will wear a hospital gown, and a sheet provides extra covering.
Use hygiene wipes or ointments to help with irritation. So now you are ready for the procedure – but remember you have sedation options to make you as comfortable as possible. Talk to your doctor about all the various options, and remember colonoscopies are hardly ever scary or painful!
In fact, most patients feel up to returning to normal activities within 24 hours. It's highly recommended that patients take it easy with scheduled activities for the first week after to allow enough time to get back to normal, especially if your doctor found and removed polyps during the procedure.
Bleeding is one of the most common complications of colonoscopy, accounting for 0.3-6.1% of cases[35,36].