Summary of Recommendations

Document Overview

Design and created by Guideline Central in participation with the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Moderate Procedural Sedation and Analgesia

American Society of Anesthesiologists

Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Overview

Document Title: Moderate Procedural Sedation and Analgesia

Authoring Society: American Society of Anesthesiologists

Document Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018

Page Last Reviewed/Updated: May 5, 2026

Document Type: Guideline

Country of Publication: United States

Full Text Freely Available: Yes

Full Text Guideline: anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=2670190

Source Citation: Practice Guidelines for Moderate Procedural Sedation and Analgesia 2018: A Report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Moderate Procedural Sedation and Analgesia, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, American College of Radiology, American Dental Association, American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists, and Society of Interventional Radiology^*. Anesthesiology 2018;128(3):437-479. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000002043.

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives: Allow clinicians to optimize the benefits of moderate procedural sedation regardless of site of service; to guide practitioners in appropriate patient selection; to decrease the risk of adverse patient outcomes (e.g., apnea, airway obstruction, respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, death); to encourage sedation education, training, and research; and to offer evidence-based data to promote cross-specialty consistency for moderate sedation practice.

Scope: Assessment and Screening, Management, Treatment

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D059408 - Pain Management

D000760 - Anesthesia and Analgesia

D000698 - Analgesia

D059408 - Pain Management

D000760 - Anesthesia and Analgesia

D000698 - Analgesia

Keywords: analgesia, procedural sedation, sedation

Inclusion Criteria: Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Child, Infant, Older Adult

Health Care Settings: Hospital, Operating and Recovery Room

Intended Users: Dentist, Nurse, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology

Supplemental Methodology Resource: Data Supplement

Number of Source Documents: 187

Literature Search Start Date: Sunday, August 1, 1976

Literature Search End Date: Monday, July 31, 2017

Includes peer/external review process?: Yes

Includes public comment process?: No

Methodologist involvement?: Yes

Patient involvement?: No

Includes multi-disciplinary group?: Yes

Includes systematic review?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of evidence?: Yes

Grades quality of strength of recommendation?: Yes

Discloses funding source?: Yes

Discloses conflicts of interest?: Yes

Includes benefits/harms analysis with recommendations?: No

Moderate Procedural Sedation and Analgesia

Summary of Recommendations

Patient Evaluation

Preprocedure Patient Preparation

Patient Monitoring

Monitoring Patient Level of Consciousness

Monitoring Patient Ventilation and Oxygenation

Monitoring Hemodynamics

Contemporaneous Recording of Monitored Parameters

Availability of an Individual Responsible for Patient Monitoring

Supplemental Oxygen

Emergency Support

Sedative or Analgesic Medications Not Intended for General Anesthesia

Sedative/Analgesic Medications Intended for General Anesthesia

Reversal Agents

Recovery Care

Creation and Implementation of Patient Safety Processes

Document Overview

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Recommendation Development Processes & Methodology