I found this little gem on the ASA website here; ASA Abstracts - Abstract I use this to show what the medical community considers "acceptable" risk for YOU! Keep in mind that this is basically only physical reactions ot the poison Versed, not the mental predation action of this drug. There is a chart at the bottom. If you add up all the "adverse" events that this study says is actually a GOOD number, look at what you get!
"Significant Desaturation;" (>90%) is 4.5% of the study patients. What happens to the brain when significant desaturation occurs? That's right, brain cell death or apoptosis.
The 'adverse event' of pain is as follows; "Excessive Pain" (as interpreted by MEDICAL PEOPLE, not the patient is 2.5%. "Moderate Pain" (admitted to by the people CAUSING the pain) is at 6%. I'm sure these are under reported. "Mild Pain" ( yeah right) is at 3.7%. Keep in mind that these sedation patients are also being given pain medication as well. FULLY 12.2% OF SEDATED PATIENTS ARE EXPERIENCING PAIN!!! And this is just as reported in this study, which is slanted to prove that nurses should be able to provide sedation!!!
For all of the nurses who say that Versed is so relaxing, why is it that HYPERTENSION is so prevelent with Versed??? The adverse event of hypertension is at 2.7%! The hypotension group is at .3%. When you are "relaxed" with Versed wouldn't you think those numbers would be reversed? How 'bout it Insane Nurse? Want to address this?
"Restlessness" comes in at 6.4%! Restlessness in sedated patients! Isn't Versed supposed to be so "relaxing?" I thought Versed was given to "sedate" patients! Obviously Versed isn't so "sedating" after all. It's an amnesia drug and a patient control drug ONLY, in my opinion. (period)
Totalling up all the adverse events it comes to 29.6% of patients. These are patients who have mostly minor procedures with anesthesia which is performed by nurses that are going to have one or more of these adverse events. This is totally acceptable to medical people like ASA. More than 1 in 4 patients having adverse events is good?
So what are the parameters of what constitutes "good" sedation? It's OK to CAUSE these problems in 1/4 of patients as long as the patient doesn't die? Does POCD matter? What about PTSD? Is it OK to starve patients brains of oxygen? This is a LOT of risk for an unnecessary part of minor procedures isn't it?
You are absolutely incorrect in your assumption that desaturation causes brain cell death. It most certainly does not. Furthermore, you need to get your terminology correct. Apoptosis (or as you incorrectly spelled, "aptosis") is the normal pre-programmed death of cells. All normal cells are programmed to die. Every cell in your body is replaced in one year's time. Cells which are not pre-programmed to die are called cancer. The degree of pain is determined by the dosage of anesthesia and has nothing to do with Versed.
ReplyDeleteThe only way you can achieve 100% reduction in pain is at the risk of killing a patient with an overdose. Do you think that is a good thing? A 90% O2 saturation is not dangerous for the vast majority of patients. If you ride in pressurized commercial air, your saturation will be lower than that (which is why you get looped on one alcoholic beverage).
"A little learning is a dangerous thing...drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring." Alexander Pope (Essays on Criticism)
Please see my rebuttal to the above in my post entitled "A Medical Worker Takes Me on."
ReplyDeleteGlad to do so! The overwhelmoing majority of versed reactions in the pediatric population stem from hypotension, not hypertension. Studies on adult patients do not carry over to peds patients, but of course you already know this.....
ReplyDeleteThanks John. What would that statistic be? As in what (true) percentage of patients in the pediatric population have this reaction? I'm not being snotty, I want to know. If .3%, that's POINT THREE percent of the adult population has hypotension as an adverse reaction, it would follow that a similar number in the peds population would have the same. Can you send me some studies? I'm not calling you a liar by any means, but I have a distrust of people who are enamored of Versed. Anecdotal evidence doesn't cut it. I know you have access to far more medical studies than are access granted to me. You will NEVER change my mind about what a pure poison Versed is, but I'm always willing to learn.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks John, I've had a couple of nightmares about "Versed DRIPS!" The phrase strikes fear and dread in my heart. Since you seem to hate me so much, that should make you happy!