Midazolam for sedation during diagnostic or therapeutic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in cirrhotic patients.

Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of clinically overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in cirrhotic patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) who received midazolam for sedation.

Methods: This was an interventional study carried out at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. Consecutive patients presenting to the service of a single consultant gastroenterologist for diagnostic or therapeutic UGE between January 2009 and January 2011, who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were prospectively recruited for the study.