Alison Brenner, PhD, MPH, deputy director of research for the Decision Support Lab at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, was published in the journal Gasteroenterology. Brenner and collaborators analyzed claims data to find risk of short-term harms associated with using anesthesia services for colonoscopy compared with standard conscious sedation.
Use of anesthesia service was associated with a 13 percent increase in risk of any complication within 30 days, and was associated specifically with an increased risk of perforation, hemorrhage, abdominal pain, complications secondary to anesthesia, and stroke.
The study compared the short-term harms associated with propofol-based sedation for colonoscopy with standard conscious sedation. The work was conducted while Brenner was affiliated with the University of Washington Division of Gastroenterology in Seattle.