MRI for 3 year old...?

[Lazyafternoon]

So my 3.5 yr old has an enlarged tonsil and consultant doesn't know why so had asked for an MRI scan to investigate

However, he's 3! The MRI people have said they don't normally do them on children so young as a bit scary and they can't stay still. They invited us to visit and we watched through the window as an older child was scanned. It does look very unlikely DS would stay still. The other option is a CT scan.

Anyone else have experience of MRI or CT scan at that sort of age?

My DD had one under general anaesthetic at a similar age.

As pp, my DD had an Mri under general anaesthetic aged 5. She was a day patient in hospital

When the consultant talked about it he said DS would have to have general anaesthetic.

But talking to the MRI people on our visit today they said they prefer not to sedate without good reason, so would try CT before MRI and GA. They seemed to think it could be done if DS wasn't too scared!

As it's just investigation and 'probably nothing' I'd agree that I'd rather avoid GA.

My DS was 7 when he had his done, they did his whole spine so i guess it lasted longer than some others. He only JUST made it to the end, he was so distraught. I was in the room talking to him the whole way through and it was SO noisy! I could never imagine a 3 year old coping with it.

My Ds has had at least one MRI a year, he is 11 now. He had a general until he was 8. A local hospital tried doing it without at 6 and Ds broke down. His specialist went mad and complained to the local. I would query it.

My DS has been having regular MRI's since he was 5 ( now 8). For the first year he had them under GA, he now doesn't as he needs to have them for life he needs to get used to having them awake

CT scans are much quicker and less noisy so he would probably manage that fine. MRI scans at that age are usually done under anaesthetic because they take much longer and he would probably struggle to stay still. No harm in trying though as long as he doesn't get upset.

If you end up going down the MRI route, ask whether he can listen to music or not. They might not let him wear headphones as it will be on his head, but an audio book or favourite cd can be calming and good at distraction.

My dc have had ga regularly for minor ops since one. It seems a huge thing, but for most the risks are minor. Dn has had regular Mris since age six months and another dn had one as a foetus so they are considered safe enough to do in utero with appropriate safety checks.