Describe a patient’s condition under conscious sedation. Relate your experiences with sedated patients

Conscious Sedation

Conscious sedation entails a technique whereby drugs are used to produce a state of depression of the Central Nervous system or the body, thus enabling treatment to be carried out (Kapur & Kapur, 2018). It involves the administration of a sedative to help the patient relax and an anesthetic to block pain during the medical procedures. The drugs can be administered orally, intravenously or through inhalation (Kapur & Kapur, 2018). Healthcare practitioners commonly use conscious sedation to help patients manage pain during activities that will involve pain induction, such as surgery and dental procedures.

A patient under conscious sedation can verbally communicate with the practitioner. Moreover, the consciousness of the patient’s body is depressed, but they still have control over the body’s protective reflexes and can respond to commands (Simonsen et al., 2018). Healthcare professionals usually employ conscious sedation to patients who are panicking and anxious during procedures such as dental surgery, including filling or minor bone fracture repair. Moreover, patients under conscious sedation feel less mobile, enabling practitioners to provide safe care and avoid adverse complications (Simonsen et al., 2018). After receiving the drug, the patient feels relaxed and starts feeling drowsy after a short period. The patient’s breathing may slow down, and their pressure may drop slightly, but the practitioner monitors them throughout the procedure to avoid complications (Löwhagen Hendén et al., 2017). During sedation, the patient’s irritability and agitation are reduced, making the patient respond purposely to commands with stimulation of a light tactile or alone.

In my practice, I have experienced the reactions and conditions of patients under conscious sedation, with most of them feeling drowsy and relaxed. The patients calm down after drug administration, and there is a significant reduction of anxiety, stress and emotions. Some patients may feel heavy sluggishness in the sedated area such as arms and have a temporary tingling sensation and does not affect the patient’s health.

References

Kapur, A., & Kapur, V. (2018). Conscious sedation in dentistry. Annals of maxillofacial surgery, 8(2), 320. https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2Fams.ams_191_18

Löwhagen Hendén, P., Rentzos, A., Karlsson, J. E., Rosengren, L., Leiram, B., Sundeman, H., … & Ricksten, S. E. (2017). General anesthesia versus conscious sedation for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke: the AnStroke trial (anesthesia during stroke). Stroke, 48(6), 1601-1607. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.117.016554

Simonsen, C. Z., Yoo, A. J., Sørensen, L. H., Juul, N., Johnsen, S. P., Andersen, G., & Rasmussen, M. (2018). Effect of general anesthesia and conscious sedation during endovascular therapy on infarct growth and clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA neurology, 75(4), 470-477. http://jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.4474