[Which anaesthesia for children undergoing MRI? An Internet survey in the French university hospitals].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the procedures used by French anaesthesiologists in children undergoing MRI.


METHODS
A questionnaire was sent by Internet to every university hospital in France. Information concerning the specialty of the doctor in charge of the child, the age of the children, premedication, airway control, the agents used, presence of a specific recovery room, length of hospitalization and number of children undergoing MRI was obtained.


RESULTS
Out of the 28 hospitals contacted, one did not reply and two did not perform anaesthesia for MRI. In 80% of cases, paediatric anaesthesiologists were in charge of the children. Only one team applied an age limit and performed sedation only in children over 10 kg. Specific monitoring for MRI was used by all teams. Premedication was given in 52% of cases. Parents were present during induction in 52% of cases. Sevoflurane was used in 52%, propofol in 40% and propofol with sufentanil in 8%. Presence of a venous line is systematic in 92% of cases. Intubation is systematic in 36% of cases, laryngeal mask in 20%, one or the other in 24%, and face mask and/or oral canula in 20%. The most widely used ventilation mode is spontaneous breathing (52%). All children go to the recovery room, which was close to the MRI unit in only 48% of cases and was less than 1 hour away in 72%. In 83% of cases, MRI is performed on a day-case basis and the number of procedures varies from 4 to 30 per week.


CONCLUSIONS
While there is no standard anaesthetic protocol in France for children undergoing MRI, only specialist teams undertake such procedures.
Bordes
M
M
Département d'anesthésie-réanimation IV, hôpital Pellegrin-Enfants, CHU de Bordeaux, place Amélie-Raba-Léon, 33076 Bordeaux, France. Maryline.bordes@chu-bordeaux.chu
Semjen
F
F
Sautereau
A
A
Nossin
E
E
Benoit
I
I
Meymat
Y
Y
Cros
A-M
AM
D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods*; D003625:Data Collection; D005602:France; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data