Fluid status after bowel preparation for colonoscopy: objective assessment and relationship to hypotension under sedation

Patients who underwent elective lower intestinal endoscopy were commonly hypovolaemic on pre-procedure transthoracic echocardiography. The agreement between expert echocardiography reporters was moderate. The agreement of haemodynamic parameters between transthoracic echocardiography and the ClearSight non-invasive cardiac output monitor was poor. When patients were sedated for their endoscopy procedure, their blood pressure was very commonly lower than at baseline, and this reached a clinically important level for a significant minority of patients. Strategies to reduce dehydration and low blood pressure in patients undergoing sedation for endoscopy are important targets for future research.