Preprocedural Assessment for Patients Anticipating Sedation

The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of the recent literature addressing the aims, content, outcomes and quality metrics for presedation evaluation. There is a trend towards multidisciplinary development of minimum standards for sedation practice, including presedation assessment. A risk-based paradigm underpins presedation assessment. Improved and validated risk scores are required, especially to predict airway difficulty. There is an increasing focus on skillsets rather than roles. Clinicians should explain the intended depth of sedation, how that may be experienced by patients and how patient preferences for sedation can be incorporated into decision-making. High-quality presedation evaluation will improve the value of sedation care by aligning appropriate resources (including sedation provider), based on patient risk, and also by improving communication and decision-making.