Colonoscopy during a colonoscopy, is it necessarily to be fully or asleep or do the patient have the choice? edit: (grammar mistake) during a colonoscopy, is it necessarily to be fully asleep or do the patient(s) have a choice?

As : As a general rule of thumb, the more anesthesia you are under the higher the risks. If you are completely asleep the risks are higher than if you are sedated only and comfortable. To answer your question, it is not necessary to be fully asleep but you have to be comfortable so your doctor can actually complete the colonoscopy all the way to the begining of the colon.

You : You can discuss with your doctors and anesthesiologist your choices. In the past, only mild sedatives were used for colonoscopy, but in the past several years more anesthetics have been used. It may depend on if you have any other medical conditions that could affect your risks.