Oropharyngeoesophageal Topical Anesthesia Versus Propofol - Ketamine Sedation for Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is an essential and widely used diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in gastroenterology. EGD can be performed in association with topical anesthesia of the pharynx, intravenous anesthesia, or with their combination. Sedation is required to alleviate anxiety, provide analgesia, amnesia and to improve endoscopic performance specifically in therapeutic procedures. However, sedation-related gastrointestinal endoscopy complications when occur, may lead to significant morbidity and occasional mortality especially with moderate and deep sedation. Cardiopulmonary complications resulting from aspiration, oversedation, hypoventilation, vasovagal reflex, and airway obstruction account for more than 50% of all complications associated with upper endoscopy. Topical pharyngeal anesthesia currently is a requirement for upper endoscopy to provide patients with the best comfort in unsedated EGD. In Hong Kong, 10% Xylocaine pump spray (AstraZeneca, Sodertalje, Sweden) is the pharyngeal anesthesia generally used as a premedication in unsedated EGD. The aim of this study was to provide more effective, safer, tolerable and offers quicker recovery technique using either the modified Oropharyngeoesophageal Topical Anesthesia (OPETA) technique or conventional intravenous sedation by prepared mixture of propofol and ketamine (ketofol 4:1) .