In the U.S., sedating patients prior to doing a colonoscopy is standard. However, one physician has concluded that sedation might not be necessary for all colonoscopy patients. The physician, who documented his experiences in a series of academic papers, began performing unsedated colonoscopies when he lacked the nursing support to perform the sedation. Since then, he's concluded that unsedated colonoscopies are tolerable for most patients who experience them. Article