What is the difference between sedation and twilight sleep? | Sedation

What is the difference between sedation and twilight sleep?

Twilight sleep is a certain state of consciousness that is triggered by sedative drugs. Sedation is a broader term. Sedation begins with the intake of certain antidepressants or premedication before surgery.

It is a damping of the central nervous system, the brain. This can range from mild fatigue to the borderline of general anesthesia. The different states of consciousness are determined with point values.

Most doctors use the Richmond Agitation Scale for this purpose, which assigns a certain point value to the behavior of the affected person. The twilight sleep lies only one or two points below the awake patient. In twilight sleep, the affected person can be awakened upon response or even has his eyes open continuously. The state of consciousness can be influenced by the choice of medication and by the dosage. For most procedures, twilight sleep is completely sufficient to calm the patient down.

What side effects can occur?

Sedating drugs calm the affected person both physically and psychologically. This effect can go beyond the actually defined goal. In the case of antidepressants, this means that the affected person does not only become calm, but sleepy.

In medical interventions, this can mean the difference between a twilight sleep and an anaesthetic. Sedatives also affect blood pressure, heart rate and the drive to breathe. If the dosage is too high, breathing can stop and the circulation collapses as both areas are downregulated.

In this case, the patient must be ventilated and the circulation must be stabilized with medication. With antidepressants, a possible side effect is a cardiac arrhythmia, which should be detected by regular ECG checks. Many sedatives also cause nausea and vomiting when taken for the first time.

Some sedative drugs also have an addictive potential. This means that at first a habituation effect occurs, in which those affected need higher and higher doses, and later the affected person becomes physically and also psychologically dependent on the drugs. However, these are side effects that only occur with long-term use.