title: Structured sedation programme for magnetic resonance imaging examination in children.
abstract: One thousand, eight hundred and fifty-seven patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging following the establishment of a structured sedation programme. Forty-eight of these patients came from the intensive care unit with a secure airway and were therefore excluded from any further analysis. Oral sedation was to be given to children aged 5 years and below. For children >/= 6 years old, oral sedation could be given only if their level of co-operation was judged to be inadequate by the referring physician. Oral sedation consisted of chloral hydrate 90 mg x kg-1 (maximum 2.0 g) orally with or without rectal paraldehyde 0.3 ml x kg-1. All magnetic resonance imaging requests for children who failed oral sedation as well as those referred for general anaesthesia from the outset were reviewed by a consultant anaesthetist who then allocated patients to undergo the procedure with either general anaesthesia or intravenous sedation. Scans requiring intravenous sedation or general anaesthesia were performed in the presence of a consultant anaesthetist. Intravenous sedation consisted of either a propofol 0.5 mg x kg-1 bolus followed by an infusion (maximum 3 mg x kg-1 x h-1) or midazolam 0.2-0.5 mg x kg-1 boluses. General anaesthesia was given using spontaneous ventilation with a mixture of 66% nitrous oxide in oxygen and isoflurane following either inhalation (sevoflurane) or intravenous (propofol) induction. One thousand and thirty-nine (57.4%) of the scans were done without sedation whereas 93 scans were performed during the consultant anaesthetist supervised sessions. Oral sedation failed in 50 out of 727 patients (6.9%). Eighty-seven per cent of children aged 5 years and below needed sedation compared with 4.5% of those aged over 10 years. Two patients who had only received chloral hydrate developed significant respiratory depression. This structured sedation programme has provided a safe, effective and efficient use of limited resources.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Manchester Children's Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: I N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Keengwe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hegde
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dearlove
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharples
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016292:Procedural Sedation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D016896:Treatment Outcome