Remimazolam for procedural sedation in gastrointestinal endoscopy: real-life, single center observational study

Background and aimRemimazolam has proved to be a very promising sedative drug in randomized clinical trials for usage in a wide spectrum of patients, including critically ill ones. The purpose of our study was to verify efficacy and safety of remimazolam for procedural sedation during diagnostic and first level operative endoscopy in a real-world setting.MethodsThis single centre prospective study evaluated sedation regimen with remimazolam for EGDS and fentanyl and remimazolam for colonoscopy in consecutive ASA 1-3 patients.ResultsSeventy-one patients underwent 73 procedures (25 EGDS, 48 colonoscopies) with a total amount of 13.2 +/- 8.7 mg and 10.2 +/- 6.2 mg of remimazolam administered respectively. In 6 EGDS, rescue sedation with propofol was needed. Transient hypotension was frequent (37%) and no cases of hypoxia occurred. One case of suspected allergy (erythema of the trunk) without anaphylaxis was reported.ConclusionsProcedural sedation can be applied with remimazolam without the use of propofol, obtaining effective sedation in colonoscopies while in EGDS remimazolam alone guarantees the result in a percentage of around 70-75% of cases.