Frequently Asked Questions
Most frequent questions and answers
IV – If a patient is comfortable with getting an IV then that is the preferred method of medication administration. IV sedation takes effect more quickly and the dosing is able to be perfectly customized to the patient and how they are responding throughout the entire procedure. If a patient become sedated more deeply than the doctor would like, or has a complication having and IV in place gives the doctor the fastest route possible to administer reversal agents or other medications as needed.
Pills – The primary advantage for sedation via pills is that starting an IV will be unnecessary. For some people that is a really big deal and we are happy to accommodate them as part of their customized treatment plan.
Some of the drawbacks of pills are they can take 45 minutes to an hour to fully take effect. Also, with pills it’s sometimes tricky to find the exact dose necessary to achieve adequate sedation without over sedating the patient. For example, taking one pill might not be quite enough sedation, but two pills might result in sedation deeper than the doctor would prefer. With IV sedation the doctor can micromanage the dosing in a way pills cannot.
