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Published on: July 30, 2009

Children with and without developmental disabilities: sedation medication requirements and adverse events related to

Nirupama Kannikeswaran1, Usha Sethuraman, Lalitha Sivaswamy

  • 1Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA. nkannike@dmc.org

Pediatric Emergency Care
|October 2, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children with developmental disabilities (DD) require similar sedation doses and have comparable adverse event rates as children without disabilities (DN) during brain MRI. This study found no significant differences in medication needs or safety outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Neuroimaging

Background:

  • Sedation is frequently used for pediatric brain MRI.
  • Children with developmental disabilities may present unique challenges during sedation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare sedation medication requirements and adverse events in children with and without developmental disabilities undergoing brain MRI.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective, observational, age-matched 1:2 case-control study.
  • Included children aged 3-10 years sedated for brain MRI.
  • Developmental assessment via Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scale and neurological exam.

Main Results:

  • No significant difference in mean doses of pentobarbital, fentanyl, or midazolam between groups.
  • Overall adverse event rates were similar (30% in DD vs. 32.9% in DN).
  • Hypoxia incidence was comparable (10% in DD vs. 9.3% in DN).

Conclusions:

  • Children with developmental disabilities do not require higher sedative doses for brain MRI.
  • Incidence of adverse events, including hypoxia, is not increased in children with developmental disabilities compared to their peers.
Abstract

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