The term “conscious sedation” was widely used in the past, but the terminology “procedural sedation and analgesia” (PSA) has become the term of choice in recent years. This refers to a combination of medications used to help you relax (a sedative) and block pain (an anesthetic) during a medical or dental procedure. You remain conscious but will be completely relaxed and pain free.
According to the American Society of Anaesthesiologists Task Force on Sedation and Analgesia by Non-Anaesthesiologists, there are two primary goals of appropriate PSA:
- To provide relief of anxiety and discomfort while patients undergo painful procedures
- To facilitate procedures in adults and children for procedures that may not be particularly painful, but require that they do not move.
More specifically, this service is aimed at:
- People who get very anxious during medical procedures
- Anybody that has a very low pain threshold and requires a medical procedure
- Children who have experienced trauma
- Procedures that can cause pain, but don’t always qualify for General Anaesthesia, including:
- Long dental procedures
- Multiple dental procedures that need to be performed simultaneously
- Periodontal procedures
- Gastroscopy
- Colonoscopy (other Gastroenterologist procedures includes ERCP)
- Dermatological Laser Therapy
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Trauma and Emergency Surgery
- Gynaecological Procedures