Intravenous midazolam as a sedative for colonoscopy: A randomized, double-blind clinical trial

Methods: Forty patients, aged between 36 and 60 years, scheduled to undergo colonoscopic removal of colorectal polyps were randomly assigned to receive 0.9% saline solution (n = 20) or 0.05 mg/kg body weight of midazolam (n = 20) intravenously. Results: Midazolam significantly (P < 0.001) increased the tolerance of patients to colonoscopy. It had no significant effect on pulse or systolic blood pressure during endoscopy. Arterial oxygen saturation decreased significantly (P < 0.01) during endoscopy in patients pre-treated with midazolam, but it did not decrease by more than 5%. Conclusions: Intravenous midazolam is useful as a sedative for colonoscopy, but we recommend continuous oxygen saturation monitoring during endoscopy.