Abstract
The American Society of Anesthesiologists published its “Practice Guidelines for Sedation and Analgesia by Non-Anesthesiologists” in 1993 and updated them in 2002. These guidelines provide recommendations and cautions for non-anesthesiologists to allow them to perform effective and safe sedation and analgesia. The guidelines emphasize that sedation and analgesia comprise a continuum of states. High-quality, safe sedation requires pre-operative patient examination, confirmation of fasting time, appropriate monitoring, adequate emergency equipment, compliance with principles of drug administration, and validation of discharge criteria. In addition, practitioners should always be aware that levels of sedation change according to circumstances.
