Esophagogastroduodenoscopy and O2 Saturation in COPD Patients

Background: Diagnostic upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy without sedation in selected patients has become more common over the past few years, none-the-less sedatives are avoided in the elderly. We studied the effect of rapid esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) without sedation on patients with COPD to determine the critical hypoxemia during endoscopy. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, easy EGD was performed electively in 74 patients with COPD (FEV1, FVC, and FEV1.FVC 60%) during 25 months in Masih Daneshvari Hospital. All patients had continuous monitoring and recording of arterial oxygen saturation with pulse oximeter. Patients had similar characteristics concerning age, gender, cardio-pulmonary function and other interventional factors. Hypoxemia during the procedure was also registered. It is noticeable that easy endoscopy refers to performing EGD in less than 10 minutes without sedation. Results: This study showed that during non-sedated EGD, SaO2 dropped to less than 90% in 23% (16 cases) of patients with COPD. None-the-less following administration of oxygen during the procedure, PaO2 tended to normal values and therefore the procedure was continued without interruption in all cases. Conclusion: This study showed that easy endoscopy in COPD patients with normal cardiac function may be considered as a safe procedure with no complication