Conscious care sedation is a technique that minimizes pain and anxiety during minor surgical procedures while keeping you conscious, able to respond to verbal commands, and able to breathe without assistance.

With conscious care sedation, your central nervous system is depressed using intravenous, inhalation, or oral sedatives, or a combination of these approaches.

After conscious care sedation, you may not remember all or part of the procedure, and you may experience headache, nausea, and vomiting. You will be monitored closely immediately following your procedure, and should not drive or operate dangerous equipment for a day afterward.

(c) 2007 The American Academy of Ophthalmology