Patient Comfort During Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy is a commonly performed procedure for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease of the colon and rectum. Barriers to the procedure include cost, the need to prep and the unpleasantness associated with that process, and fear of pain during the procedure. In order to assist in compliance with recommendations for subsequent exams and to preserve the general reputation of the procedure, it is necessary to provide patients adequate procedural comfort. While there are some enthusiasts for unsedated colonoscopy, most patients will not opt for this. Several sedative and analgesics either used separately or in combination are commonly used to give patients the desired level of comfort during the exam and to facilitate the exam and any therapeutic procedures performed. Additionally, other procedural adjuncts, such as water-aided colonoscopy, carbon dioxide, and varying scope diameters, have been touted as improving patient comfort, thereby allowing for lesser degrees of sedation.