MRI and sedation in children

[SparkleRainbow]

Anyone have any experience of their dc going through an MRI with or without sedation or GA? My ds has an appointment on 27th August, MRI department want him to go without anything, and I know he will panic, never mind not be able to lie still for that long anyway (about 45 mins they think) I have had MRI's myself so I know what is involved, they have said I can be with him in the imaging room, but this is the child who when he goes to hospital with severe neck injuries he has to have his feet tied to the back board to keep him still. Would be grateful for your thoughts and experiences.

oh sparkle hiya. do tell me how it went at the appt.

as you know dd had an mri, it lasted 25 mins or so, i was able to go in with her and hold her hand, and be by her head. She had sickness and constipation at the time and it was very hard for her to keep still. I'll be hinest and say, I had to be very firm with her, and it broke my heart to do that becuase she was having stomach cramps.

They do use weighted things to steady them. Have you been able to ring the dept and talk to someone, might help?
xx

How old is your dd?

My ds had a CT scan which lasted moments and he was sedated with a liquid medicine. He was nearly 2yo.

I had an MRI scan on my head this year and I found the whole experience quite daunting myself and I am 30yo. I can't imagine how a child would be able to stay calm and still the whole time.

Hi pirate and sleepinglions,

Appointment was a frustrating wash out. Ortho registar couldn't seem to grasp the concept that although ds had not had foot numbness and incontinence when they last saw him, and not on the day of the appointment, the fact that he had weeks of it in between was insignificant, or at least not interesting enough. I had to remind him that ds is not recovering from a car accident, but that this happened initially because of his hypermobility and that it not going away. They did however order the MRI. I went to see GP he was horrified, and has started collating paper work from physio, consultant radiologist who is to independently report on all the xrays ds has had, he is collating all consultants letters etc too, school report detailing missed time at school, a&e department notes on admissions and sending them all to the rheumatologist to get him to take responsbility for ds's care. I have found someone who will join me in the fight. If that doesn't work then he says he will refer ds to GOSH.

In respect of MRI, ds is just 7, and very wriggly. He got very upset just about going to see the orthopaedic surgeon. 45 mins seems a long time for him to stay still in a claustrophobic place. I just think he will freak out. On the other hand I would rather no sedation or GA. I have spoken to the MRI department. They said they would normally like to try a child of his age without anything, but the consultant said he should have something. If he freaks out when we get there I am not sure he will easily bounce back from that psychologically. The MRI department are going to talk with the consultant and get back to me. So I wanted to be more sure about my preferences before they do that next week. What do you think?

Pirate I had forgotten whether or not your dd had a sedative or ga. How did you talk her through it before hand? Poor thing ahving stomach cramps and having to keep still through it.

It's normal practice to sedate children, you should be allowed to be in the scan room with him aswell if you wish, there's no radiation involved with a MRI. The staff won't just go ahead if he's upset/moving so it's a good idea to play it by ear. You can call the department up and request that he's given a light sedative though, you should have been sent out a questionare and it will have the contact details for the scanning department on it so it's probably best to call them directly.

My DS2 (2yrs now) has had a few MRIs. always with sedation.

In your place i think i would prefer to know that he will have planned sedation and get the mri done first time.
He may also prefer to know there is a plan that involves him sleeping through the whole thing.

Otherwise, what might happen/is likely to happen?
He will start the mri awake, freak out (tbh he doesn't even have to freak, just wriggle), mess up the mri, there will be a queue of patients so he will get taken back upstairs, then sedated (whilst hysterical) and try again.

This will be no good for your nerves or his.

DS2 has had several GAs/sedations so far and he is fine with them:)

I did get a questionaire but nothing on the paperwork gave an info about sedation or ga. When I rang them they said that they would normally expect a child of his age to have no sedation, but I agree with justkeepswimming, if I even manage to get him on to the MRI bed, he will freak out during the scan, or at leat wriggle. I am not at all claustrophobic and I nearly freaked out. He is just so on edge about hospitakls and cotors at the moment, but the scanning department was so so blaise about it that I am left thinking that I am being too fussy and over reacting.

hospitals and doctors ..... sorry had a glass of wine.

Of course you are not over reacting, you know your child far better then anyone else. Give them a call on Monday and tell them he's a wriggler.

just a thought but does music help him. Anytime I have these things Im asked what music I want. I thought it was standard.

hiya, no dd wasn't sedated, and it was crap, but ion our case only becuase she had the stomach thing.

They only had to do her from below ribs to knees. I was able to sit by her head, and she could even see me for alot of it.

The staff were quite brusque when i said she may have a prob keeping still because she might feel like thorwing up at any minute, and i hatedh aving to be firm with her, as though i was been as non understanding as them. yet there was no choice, it was our slot, we had to get it done.

I would press for sedation, every pateint is differwent surely, SURELY they know that, ffs, they must have to deal with so many conditions, illness etc..

I am so glad your doc is fighting with and for you. I spent, as you know 3 weeks trying to get dd seen and believed, and 4 days in hospital trying to prove that she had this hip thing, as luck would have it it didn't bloody well flare up in the hospital did it. Then we were almost told it must be psychological. (me or her!!).

xxx

Ds will have to be in head first as they have to scan from the base of his skull down to the base of his spine and pelvis, I think I will still be able to reach his hand though. If he had his head out and could see me he might be all right without anything, although I still think they would have a lot of blurred images as he would wriggle. They did say we could bring music for him to listen to, or a story on cd. Not sure whether story of Puff the Magic Dragon would work as being calming when it has to be repeated constantly for 45 mins! or maybe that stress is just for us mums.

I should hear from the scanning department today in answer to my phone call on Friday, I am going to push for a sedation. It is a matter of weighing up the ga/sedation risks with the need to get this information about the state of his spinal column.

Thank you all so much for your advice, I feel a little less worried about having lost perspective on this, in a better place to talk to the scanning department now.

Sparkle - my dd has had an MRI without sedation. She was ? just 15 I think so much older than your ds. Hers took around over 90 minutes - it felt like an age to me and she did get a bit panicky but managed to calm herself down but obviously being older was able to take instruction with regard to her breathing etc,. She has had other tests in the past with sedation, not GA; they used chloral hydrate. I'm not sure if that is what they use to sedate these days but it can be quite fast acting (depending on the child). I wonder if it's possible to have a go without and then use chloral if he gets a bit stressed.

Hope the department can be a bit flexible towards your son's needs.

I hope so too, haven't heard from them yet.....

Still haven't heard from them yet, hopefully today.

Spoke to MRI Siperintendant today, very nice man. He agreed that ds should have GA (they don't do sedation for children because he said in their experience it was never successful enough to knock worried children out) he is now first on the list, at the moment for friday week. Hope that is the right thing, pretty sure it is the right thing, just have to dael with the day, and then tackle the consquences of the results. One battle at a time. Thanks to those who replied to me.

Glad you got a decision Sparkle.