Comparison of Propofol-Nalbuphine and Propofol-Magnesium Sulphate Sedation for Patients Undergoing GIT Endoscopy

Endoscopy plays a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Sedation has been used in clinical practice to make the procedure more comfortable, and improve patient satisfaction by helping patients rest during the procedure. (1) (2) The most common complications in gastrointestinal endoscopy are not related to the procedure, but are related to sedation; they include cardio-respiratory adverse events such as hypoxemia, hypoventilation, apnea, dysrhythmias, hypotension and vaso-vagal episodes (3).

Many studies have reported on use of propofol as a single agent for sedation during endoscopy. However propofol is often used in combination with another agent for other indications. The benefit of propofol in terms of shorter recovery and discharge times and higher patient satisfaction persists, when it is used in combination with other agents.

Propofol has limited analgesic effect and higher doses are often required, when it is used as a single agent for endonoscopy, resulting in higher sedation levels. Thus use of propofol in combination with other agents may be preferable to propofol alone. The combination may be easier to manage due to lower sedation levels and ability to reverse some of the sedation with the use of reversal agents for narcotics (4).