Safety of conscious sedation in interventional radiology

Purpose: To identify rates of adverse events associated with the use of con scious sedation in interventional radiology. Methods: In a 5-month period, prospective data were collected on patients u ndergoing conscious sedation for interventional radiology procedures (n = 5 94). Adverse events were categorized as respiratory, sedative, or major adv erse events. Respiratory adverse events were those that required oral airwa y placement, ambu bag, or jaw thrust. Sedation adverse events were unrespon siveness, oxygen saturation less than 90%, use of flumazenil/naloxone. or a gitation. Major adverse events were hypotension, intubation, CPR, or cardia c arrest. The frequency of adverse events for the five most common radiolog y procedures were determined. Results: The five most common procedures (total n = 541) were biliary tube placement/exchange (n = 182), tunneled catheter placement (n = 135), diagno stic arteriography (n = 125), vascular interventions (n = 52), and other ca theter insertions (n = 46). Rates for respiratory, sedation, and major adve rse events were 4.7%. 4.2%, and 2.0%, respectively. The most frequent major adverse event was hy potension (2.0%). Biliary procedures had the highest rate of total adverse events (p < .05) and respiratory adverse events (p < .05). Conclusion: The frequency of adverse events is low with the use of consciou s sedation during interventional procedures. The highest rates occurred dur ing biliary interventions.