Cardiac Cath Lab

70% judged procedure “very good” with deep sedation.([FOOTNOTE=Münkler P, Attanasio P, Parwani AS, Huemer M, Boldt LH, Haverkamp W, Wutzler A. High Patient Satisfaction with Deep Sedation for Catheter Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmia. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2017.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

23% judged procedure “good” with deep sedation.⁷ 

Minimal sedation has been proven to work for cardiac ablation procedures, which can be painful. Deep sedation — though it results in longer procedures — doesn’t result in more complications or sedation effects.([FOOTNOTE=Wutzler A, Mueller A, Loehr L, Huemer M, Parwani AS, Attanasio P, Blaschke F, Storm C, Boldt LH, Haverkamp W. Minimal and deep sedation during ablation of ventricular tachycardia. Int J Cardiol. 2014;172(1):161-4.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])  Patients have also reported satisfaction with deep sedation.⁷

91 vs. 155 minutes median procedure duration, monitored anesthesia care vs. general anesthesia.⁵ 

T-AVR has resulted in significantly shorter procedure times and shorter ICU and hospital length of stay, while no significant difference was seen in three-month and one-year mortality rates.^4,5

In one study, relatively mild doses of a sedative/analgesic drug combination appeared to lower the frequency of arterial spasms, as well as reduce side effects. Patients receiving the treatment reported significantly less discomfort than the control group.⁶

Anxiety can have harmful effects on compromised cardiovascular function by increasing heart rate and blood pressure. Anxiety may interfere with the patient's ability to cooperate during a procedure.([FOOTNOTE=Gallagher R, Trotter R, Donoghue J. Preprocedural Concerns and Anxiety Assessment in Patients Undergoing Coronary Angiography and Percutaneous Coronary Interventions. Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2010;9(1):38-44.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Clinicians take patients' anxiety levels into account when determining appropriate sedatives and sedation levels.([FOOTNOTE=Buzatto LL, Zanei SSV. Patients' anxiety before cardiac catheterization. Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2010;8(4):483-487. doi: 10.1590/S1679-45082010RW1517.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])

To address sedation challenges, the British Cardiovascular Society recommends capnography as an element of safe sedation practice.([FOOTNOTE=Furniss SS, Sneyd JR. Safe sedation in modern cardiological practice. Heart. 2015;101(19):1526-1530. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307656.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])