Originally Posted by
Cuyuna
Most endoscopy centers use Versed and Fentanyl for sedation and insufflate the colon with air (not nitrogen). The more "compassionate" programs (modern) will use propofol for sedation (administered by an anesthetist) and use carbon dioxide to inflate the colon. Carbon dioxide is absorbed from the colon about 100x faster than air (oxygen-nitrogen), and and therefore eliminates the gas pain that is common when air is used. Propofol provides for a safer and vastly more comfortable colonoscopy (no pain, no recollection), and clears the body far more rapidly than Fentanyl/Versed so patients wake up quicker and there's no narcotic hangover. For every patient that can have a colonoscopy without sedation, there are about 30 that can't.
Yeah I had Propofol, I remember asking the anesthesiologist "When am I going to start feeling sleepy?", and that's the last thing I remember before his waking me up afterwards. It's kind of creepy to know that I might have been conscious and awake during the procedure, but just don't remember it. I don't know what kind of gas they used, but I didn't have much distress afterwards.
And I considered the preparation to be a challenge - I wanted mine to be the cleanest colon they'd ever scoped. Totally not that bad.