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Sedation for pediatric CT scanning: is radiology becoming a drug-free zone?

Alfred Sacchetti1, Carol Carraccio, Angelo Giardino

  • 1Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Camden, NJ 08103, USA. a.sacchetti@att.net

Pediatric Emergency Care
|May 6, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Procedural sedation is rarely needed for pediatric computerized tomography (CT) scans, even with fast helical scanners. Most young children did not require sedation for their diagnostic CT studies.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Radiology
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Sedation Medicine

Background:

  • Pediatric procedural sedation is commonly used for diagnostic imaging studies.
  • The advent of fast helical computerized tomography (CT) scanners may impact the need for sedation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the necessity of procedural sedation for pediatric patients undergoing helical CT scans.
  • To assess sedation utilization in young children in the era of advanced CT technology.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic review of medical records for children under 72 months undergoing CT scans.
  • Statistical analysis using ANOVA and regression modeling to determine factors influencing sedation use.

Main Results:

  • Only 8.6% of 104 pediatric patients received procedural sedation for 122 CT studies.
  • Sedation was most common in children aged 12-30 months (36.4%).
  • Head/facial CT scans were the most frequent procedures (79.5%).

Conclusions:

  • Procedural sedation is infrequently required for infants and young children undergoing helical CT scans.
  • The need for sedation in this population appears low, even with modern CT technology.
Abstract

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