The Use of Moderate Sedation for the Secondary Prevention of Adverse Vasovagal Reactions

• Published in: Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) Mass.), 2015-04, Vol.16 (4), p.673-679
• Main Authors: Kennedy, David J., Schneider, Byron, Smuck, Matthew, Plastaras, Christopher T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Birth control; Block; Confidence intervals; Conscious Sedation - methods; Epidural (Injection Space); Facet Joint; Fainting; Fentanyl - therapeutic use; Fluoroscopy; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - therapeutic use; Injections, Spinal - adverse effects; Low Back Pain - therapy; Midazolam - therapeutic use; Retrospective Studies; Safety; Secondary Prevention - methods; Sedation; Spine; Syncope, Vasovagal - etiology; Syncope, Vasovagal - prevention & control
• ISSN: 1526-2375; 1526-4637
• DOI: 10.1111/pme.12632

Background Vasovagal reactions can occur with spine procedures and may result in premature procedure termination or other adverse events. Objective To evaluate if moderate sedation is an effective means of secondary prevention for vasovagal reactions. Methods Prospectively collected data on 6,364 consecutive spine injections. Results Of the 6,364 spine injections, 6,150 spine injections were done without moderate sedation and resulted in 205 vasovagal reactions (3.3% [95% confidence interval {CI} 2.9–3.8%]). One hundred thirty‐four spine procedures were performed on patients that had a history of prior vasovagal reaction during a spine procedure. Of these, 90 procedures were performed without moderate sedation, and 21/90 (23.3% [95% CI 15.2–32.1%]) were complicated by a repeat vasovagal reaction. None of 44 repeat injections that utilized moderate sedation experienced a repeat vasovagal reaction (0% [95% CI 0–9.6%]) (χ2 = 12.17, P