Examining Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk and Changes in Oxygen Saturation in an Outpatient Endoscopy Center

As obesity becomes more prevalent in the United States, the incidence of undiagnosed or untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the associated comorbidities present challenges when providing sedation to office-based gastroenterology patients. This study examined changes between pre-post procedural oxygen saturations among patients with moderate to high OSA risk. Patients (N = 316) in the preprocedural area were screened using the STOP-BANG questionnaire prior to receiving anesthesia. The patients' STOP-BANG score (SBS) and pre-post procedural oxygen saturations were obtained and documented. Of the patients screened, 59.8% were identified as having a moderate to high risk of OSA (SBS ≥ 3). Patients with STOP BANG scores ≥3 had significantly lower mean post-procedural oxygen saturations (M = 94.23, SD = 3.53) compared to those with STOP BANG scores < 3 (M = 95.76, SD = 3, F(1, 314) = 13.70, p < .001). Patients screened as moderate-to-high risk for OSA showed significant decreases in oxygen saturations after administration of anesthesia, emphasizing the importance of routine preprocedural OSA screening. Prescreening outpatient endoscopy patients for OSA is imperative to identify patients that are at increased risk to improve patient outcomes by decreasing the incidence of intraprocedural and postprocedural complications.