THE USE OF PLAY THERAPY IN THE PREPARATION OF CHILDREN UNDERGOING MR-IMAGING

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has become an important technique in t he evaluation of a wide range of congenital and acquired conditions in children. The ability to image in multiple anatomic planes without th e use of ionizing radiation has particular advantages. However scan ti mes can be long, and the narrow bore and noise generated by most units make the procedure very intimidating to the young child. The use of s urface coils may exacerbate this, often necessitating recourse to seda tion or anaesthesia. We describe a technique involving play therapy wh ich we have found useful in the preparation of young children for MR i maging and which has reduced the number of non-diagnostic scans and th e need for sedation or anaesthesia.