Re-audit of patient information about the ethanol content of anaesthetic sprays used in gastroscopies

It is customary to offer patients undergoing gastros- copy intravenous sedation, an oral local anaesthetic spray or a combination of both. However, the presence of alco- hol within these sprays is seldom discussed. Traditional- ly, Muslims, Baptists, Salvationists and members of many fundamentalist Christian groups abstain complete- ly from alcohol. During 2013 patients' views on use of oral anaesthetic sprays with an alcohol base were investi- gated in Leicester (1). The proportion of patients who rejected the spray was 8% for Asians and 17% for Euro- peans with no difference between Hindus and Muslims. Reasons included ineffectiveness and the erroneous be- lief alcohol would interfere with other medications. In only two cases were objections religious. In one a Christian had signed the Pledge and the other was a Muslim (2). Clearly our preconceptions as to how people will respond to the issue of alcohol in medications can be wrong. However, together with others, this study demon- strated most patients believe we should provide them with this information so they can make informed choic- es (1,3).