I have had that bone marrow biopsy done . You definitely need the sedation. I cant imagine the pain if you did not have sedation. My insurance covered the sedation(anesthesia) but later they tried to get me to pay the bill for that . My insurance was supposed to pay for everything regarding the procedure so united healthcare contacted me to contact them and they paid the entire bill. But, that area where they took my bone marrow sample from me was sore for about two weeks after .