Safe Sedation Outside the Operating Theatre

It has been found that administering sedatives or analgesics, i.e. sedation for treatment outside the operating theatre, is not always carried out safely in practice. As a result a new guideline has been developed. The cost of introducing this Sedation Outside the Operating Theatre guideline will be greater than the benefit in the case of some types of treatment, according to the main conclusion of the study carried out by SEO Economic Research for the Dutch Federation of Hospitals (NVZ) and the Netherlands Society of Anesthesiologists (NVA). This is the first time a cost-benefit analysis has been carried out on the introduction of a guideline.