title: Administration of oral chloral hydrate to paediatric patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: Sedation is frequently required in children undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 172 Paediatric patients (82 female and 90 male, age 42 +/- 26 months, weight 14.7 +/- 5.6 kg) entered an open, non-comparative, prospective study to assess the utilization of oral chloral hydrate. Chloral hydrate syrup (70 mg/ml) was administered 20-30 min prior to the procedure. Effective sedation was reached in 80.3% with an average initial dose of 55 mg/kg and in 93.6% with an average total dose of 65 mg/kg. Significant differences in effectivity were correlated with the dose (54 +/- 11 mg/kg in failure cases versus 66 +/- 16 mg/kg in effective cases; p < 0.05) and diagnosis (effectivity falls to 62.5% and 76.0% in children with medullar tumours and encephalic white matter alterations, respectively; p < 0.01). Average sleep induction time was 30 +/- 19 min, and average duration of sleep was 62 +/- 24 min. Adverse reactions occurred in 4.7%, with nausea, vomiting and stomach pain being the most common side-effects (3.5%). Multivariate statistical analysis selects total dose and age into the discriminant function, with a 100% relative percentage of correct classification. A simple method for optimizing the chloral hydrate dose in children is proposed: the dose in mg/kg is calculated as half the age in months + 50.
authors: Department of Pharmacy, Hospital Dr. Peset, Valencia, Spain.
authors: C L
authors: CL
authors: Ronchera
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Martí-Bonmatí
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Poyatos
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Vilar
authors: N V
authors: NV
authors: Jiménez
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002697:Chloral Hydrate / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012890:Sleep
chemical_list: D002697:Chloral Hydrate