Basis of Dr. Urits's opinions on this topic. Dr. Urits is board certified in Anesthesiology and in Pain Medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology. His opinions about anesthesia care rest on his anesthesia residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School, his board certification in Anesthesiology, and his published research. Retaining counsel should confirm expert qualifications under the rules of their jurisdiction.

Sedation is often treated as low risk, but over-sedation, airway obstruction, and inadequate monitoring can cause serious harm, especially in ambulatory surgery centers and office settings. Dr. Urits has published on deep sedation versus general anesthesia for interventional procedures and on the care of patients with chronic pain in ambulatory surgery centers. He reviews sedation given by anesthesiologists and by nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).

Common issues

• Patient selection and pre-sedation assessment, including sleep apnea and chronic opioid use

• Planned versus actual depth of sedation, and when to convert to general anesthesia

• Monitoring requirements, including ventilation and oxygenation monitoring

• Airway obstruction, hypoxia, and rescue

• Sedation in ambulatory surgery centers and office-based settings

• Readiness for discharge after sedation

Relevant publications by Dr. Urits

• Hasoon J, Urits I, Viswanath O, et al. Percutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation Lead Placement Under Deep Sedation and General Anesthesia. Pain Ther. 2021.

• Charipova K, Gress KL, Urits I, Viswanath O, Kaye AD. Management of Patients With Chronic Pain in Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Cureus. 2020.

• Charipova K, Gress KL, Urits I, Viswanath O, Kaye AD. Maximization of Non-Opioid Multimodal Analgesia in Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Cureus. 2020.

• Charipova K, Urits I, Viswanath O, Urman RD. Preoperative assessment and optimization of cognitive dysfunction and frailty in the ambulatory surgical patient. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2020.

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