What is Sedation?

• Sedation uses drugs to relieve and prevent anxiety by inducing relaxation without putting the patient to sleep. Though the sedated patient remains awake, he remembers little afterward about the procedure he has undergone. Sedation is administered according to scales depending on the medical procedure being performed and the patient's reactions. The most widely used sedation scales are the Minnesota Sedation Assessment Tool (MSAT) and the University of Michigan Sedation Scale (UMSS).
  
  

The Minnesota scale

• The MSAT sedation scale quantifies the patient's behavior during the medical procedure to determine the proper level of sedation. An insufficiently sedated patient may experience pain, while over-sedation may cause a suppression of breathing which can result in instant death, although this is rare. Through the use of MSAT, the proper levels of sedation are identified and applied.
  
  

The Michigan scale

• The University of Michigan Sedation Scale (UMSS) is specifically designed for sedating children. The UMSS procedure allows for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the sedated child. This method, using a five-point scale to asses the child's alertness, allows doctors an early chance to recognize when a state of over-sedation is approaching.
  
  

Use of Local Anaesthesia

• The terms sedation and local anesthesia are often used interchangeably, but their uses are different. Local anesthesia completely numbs the section of the body being operated on by blocking pain signals to the brain. Local anesthesia is often used for short-duration surgeries, leaving the patient awake and alert during the procedure.
  
  

Methods of Sedation

• Sedation can be administered as an inhalable gas. It can also take the form of a tablet swallowed with water. The third method is an injection administered through a fine plastic tube into a vein on the back of the patient's hand or in his arm. The level administered depends on the patient's medical case as well as his level of anxiety. The UMSS and MSAT procedures are useful in preventing sedation from unduly affecting the patient's breathing rate.