MEDIUM DOSE CHLORAL HYDRATE FOR SEDATION OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN UNDERGOING CT

The use of chloral hydrate for paediatric sedation before CT was studi ed systematically in a limited scale acid mainly retrospectively. Chlo ral hydrate in a dose of 50-75 mg/kg (maximum dose 2 g) was administer ed per os or per rectum to 378 children for 400 CT examinations. All a bsolute and relative contraindications had been taken into account. A total of 360 CT examinations (90%) were free of motion artifacts, due: to successful sedation. A total of 28 examinations (7%) were less opt imal, but still diagnostic, so repetition was unnecessary. A total of 12 examinations (3%) had to be repeated with IV anaesthesia. Adverse r eactions that occurred were vomiting in 30 examinations (7.5%), diarrh oea in 4 (1.0%), hyperactivity in 2 (0.5%) and respiratory symptoms in 1 (0.3%). Prolonged sedation (> 2 h) was noted in 71 of 245 children (29.0%). No side effect with simultaneous oral or IV contrast agent wa s observed.