Inhaled patient-administered nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture does not impair driving ability when used as analgesia during screening flexible sigmoidoscopy

Systematic review: the use of nitrous oxide gas for lower gastrointestinal endoscopy

“…Twelve abstracts appeared relevant and the full papers were assessed. A further three studies were rejected for being non-randomized, 7 inclusion of paediatric patients, 8 or using nitrous oxide in addition to sevoflurane (an inhalational anaesthetic agent). 9 Nine publications [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] ( Figure 1) were deemed by both authors to be original research and to fit the search criteria.…”

Nitrous oxide for analgesia in colonoscopy without sedation

“…Patients receiving nitrous oxide in a 1:1 combination with oxygen are awake, and they do not need monitoring after the procedure. Although it seems as if nitrous oxide given alone does not impair the patient's driving ability, 4 the Norwegian Medicines Agency recommends a 30-minute refrain from driving a car after exposure. Previous studies have been performed comparing nitrous oxide with intravenous sedation and analgesia during lower endoscopy, with conflicting results.…”

Postoperative instructions: good compliance but is the advice sound?

“…Even more rapid recovery would be expected after sedation, a technique used in 36% of the patients contacted by Correa et al Sedative doses of fentanyl, midazolam or propofol, given alone or in combination, produced similar depressant effects to moderate amounts of alcohol [19], although impairment was no longer evident within 2±3 h. Simulated driving was unaffected within minutes of receiving Entonox for analgesia during sigmoidoscopy [20].…”