Recommendations on pediatric sedation for MRI examinations: now & future

Abstract

In 2010, the Medical Safety Committee of the Japan Pediatric Society conducted a survey on the sedation management of pediatric patients undergoing MRI examination. As adverse events during the examination, 147 (35%) of 416 facilities experienced severe complications such as respiratory depression, respiratory arrest, bradycardia and cardiac arrest. Following this result, the Medical Safety Committee of the Japan Pediatric Society published “Recommendations on Pediatric Sedation for MRI Examination” on May 26, 2013. These recommendations do not describe the specific method of sedation to be used on the site, for example, the medicine to be used, its dosage, etc., but show “a way of thinking and attitude toward sedation.” Last year, we conducted a Web questionnaire survey again to know the change over three years after release of the recommendations. As for the result, rather than a specific change, it seemed to show a time when a change of consciousness regarding sedation began to appear.

In the future, research on pediatric sedation will be conducted at many facilities, and by accumulation of research results from Japan, it is my hope that guidelines on pediatric sedation for MRI examinations will be prepared here.