Conscious Sedation During Bronchoscopy: How Far We’ve Come

Abstract

Flexible bronchoscopy (FB) is a cornerstone of modern pulmonary medicine. However, considerable heterogeneity persists with respect to education, training, and the performance of sedation during FB. Sedation administered by a non-anesthesiologist during FB has been demonstrated to be safe and effective, although comorbidities and respiratory disease severity must be taken into account regarding choice of sedation and monitoring. There is undoubtedly room for improvement concerning basic education and training in this field. In addition, current study heterogeneity complicates comparisons between various sedation regimens which in turn limit state of the art recommendations. To reach a broad acceptance of non-anesthesiologist administered sedation, future studies and guidelines must increasingly focus on education and training. Research should be performed to establish a concept of harmonized patient selection for different sedation practices.