COMPARISON OF SEDATION REGIMENS FOR PEDIATRIC OUTPATIENT CT

The purpose of this study was to compare the concurrent use of chloral hydrate (CH), intramuscular Nembutal (IMN) and intravenous Nembutal ( IVN) for sedation. Data was collected on all pediatric outpatients req uiring sedation for CT over a 2.5-year period. During this period, 217 8 outpatients required sedation of whom, 1324 (60.8%) received IMN, 71 0 (32.6%) IVN and 110 (5%) CH. The overall success rate was 97% and wa s similar in all three groups. IVN however, produced better-quality se dation than IMN or CH. The IVN group received a significantly lower do se of Nembutal than the IMN group (p = 0.001). Patients receiving IVN had a significantly lower induction time (p = 0.0001) and total examin ation time (p = 0.001) than IMN or CH. There was an increased occurren ce of desaturation in patients sedated with IVN, especially in those w ith airway obstruction. IVN sedation permits faster, more efficient an d better-quality sedation for outpatient CT scanning than IMN or CH in patients requiring intravenous contrast but may not be appropriate fo r departments that perform relatively few sedations or lack proper res uscitation facilities.