Sedation for medical test?

[EnthusiasticEdna]

My 11 yo dd with ASD needs an ultrasound scan on her eye. This will involve stingy drops and then masses of gel over her closed eye. She is already terrified about the drops but doesn't yet know about the gel. Gel is her biggest sensory no no. I don't know what to do. Have you had your child sedated for a test and what is this like please?

We've used melatonin for a younger child for an eeg, it looked like natural sleep and we roused her after half an hour

Thanks Flipped. How was it administered?

Liquid in her bottle (still has one, normally detects any tampering)

My daughter had oral sedation for a MRI scan aged abut 3 which did work. It was a strong tasting liquid which some of the kids on the ward did not tolerate.

She now has midazolam as a pre med before operations, given as a syrup, which improves her compliance.

Just to let you know. They won't be able to do this on the day unless they have prior warning that she needs it. Sedation needs to be prescribed and she may need some monitoring or supervision whilst it takes effect and wears off. Speak to the scan department or the doctor that has referred you. Apologies if you have already done this but I would hate for you to turn up and not get it done.

We've also used melatonin on 13 month old DD for a hearing test that required her to be asleep. Worked quite well with no side effects, she didn't need any monitoring afterwards. It was prescribed by the consultant, we picked it up at a normal pharmacy and gave it to her ground up into water under the supervision of the consultant. I think it's not usually prescribed for children, so might need some kind of approval... but might be worth pursuing.

Forgive me if you have already asked the relevant people where the scan is happening - but I would ask the appointments people or the consultant's secretary what they do with other children with learning disabilities and/or ASD or anxiety who would struggle to tolerate the scan. Your daughter can't be the only one who struggles with tolerating gel and drops (my DS hates them! play therapist has helped) Possibly your hospital has someone to advise on sedation or distraction therapy? At Moorfields eye hospital they have specialists to help with anxious children...but you have to ask for them! Good luck!

Thanks everyone. I've started the conversation with the hospital about support and I'm waiting on more advice tomorrow.