[Midazolam (Dormicum) for sedation of children in painful interventions]

In children painful diagnostic and therapeutic investigations require sedation and sometimes local anaesthesia. We tested Midazolam, a new benzodiazepine, for its sedative effect. Midazolam is the first derivate of imidabenzodiazepine and is remarkable for its rapid effect and a short half-life. It has good hypnotic, anxiolytic and amnesic properties. Sleep sets in immediately after intravenous application of Midazolam, and all patients reported anterograde amnesia afterwards. Over 24 months we observed 266 children who had been given Midazolam as a basic sedative before painful investigations. For sleep induction Midazolam was given in a dose of 0.3 mg/kg in children older than 6 years and 0.4 mg/kg in children younger than 6 years. The maximal dose was 15 mg. All patients fell asleep and did not remember anything about the procedure. In 30 patients pulse, blood pressure and respiration rate were measured before and after application of Midazolam. The quality of sleep was determined by the Glasgow-Coma-Scale. We did not observe any side effects.