Certain medical procedures leave patients feeling scared, anxious and stressed—this is especially true when the patient is a child.
Pediatric Procedural Sedation uses sedation and/or distraction techniques to make medical procedures more comfortable, easier and safer for children and families.
Sedation is a way to provide relaxation and comfort to your child. We can administer the medication through the nose, mouth or intravenously (IV).
If an IV is needed, we use a numbing agent to make sure that the IV placement is not painful.
Sometimes, sedation is not required and instead distraction techniques provide enough comfort for your child to get his or her procedure done.
Distraction tools include classic toys, like bubbles, or are more high-tech, like iPads.
We also have ‘cinema vision’ goggles, which allow your child to lie back and watch a movie—either from our collection of more than 100 DVDs or one they bring in from home.
The goggles help our younger patients complete their procedures without sedation and enable our older patients to sit for longer periods of time.
Another valuable tool is the Vecta Distraction Station, which features bubbles and lights that change color, an LED projector that casts colorful pictures on the walls or ceiling and a CD player to play the patients’ choice of music.
The machine has fiber optic tails that the child can play with and controllers to turn the bubbles on and off.
The Pediatric Procedural Sedation team includes a dedicated nurse, a pediatric intensivist, a certified child life specialist and, when needed, a music therapist.
Our child life specialist and music therapist play a vital role, as they work with you and your child to keep the focus away from the painful or anxiety-provoking procedures and on the toys, music or movies instead. Our child life specialist also provides age-appropriate information to help your child cope with and understand what he or she will see and feel during the procedure.
Together with consultation from you and your family, the sedation team determines the best approach to provide comfort to your child.
The Pediatric Procedural Sedation Center is available—with a physician referral—for a variety of procedures, including, but not limited to:
- MRIs
- CT scans
- PET scans
- X-rays
- Ultrasound
- Bone scans
- Electrocardiograms (EKGs)
- Echocardiograms
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR), brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER)
- Botox injection
- Lab draws
- Incisions and drainage
- Wound care dressing changes
- Hormone studies