Dreaming and recall during sedation for colonoscopy

Abstract

Dreaming is reported by one in five patients who are interviewed on emergence from general anaesthesia, but the incidence, predictors and consequences of dreaming during procedural sedation are not known. In this prospective observational study, 200 patients presenting for elective colonoscopy under intravenous sedation were interviewed on emergence to determine the incidences of dreaming and recall. Sedation technique was left to the discretion of the anaesthetist. The incidence of dreaming was 25.5%. Patients reporting dreaming were younger than those who did not report dreaming. Doses of midazolam and fentanyl were similar between dreamers and non-dreamers, however propofol doses were hig..