Sedation - Pediatric
Our team of specially trained physicians and nurses are dedicated to caring for children through a necessary study or procedure. Sedation allows your child to sleep through a potentially stressful or painful procedure or test. Our team members are experts in the pediatric population and work well together to ease both the parent's and the child's fears while providing safe and efficient care.
The Day of Your Child's Appointment
On the day of your child's appointment, you will need to check in a minimum of one hour prior to your appointment time. An adult will need to accompany the child to the procedure. Once the child is sedated the parent or guardian will be escorted to the waiting area of the Sedation Unit and will remain there until the procedure is complete.
Your child MUST follow these NPO (Nothing By Mouth) directions before we can sedate him or her:
- Your child may have solid food up to 8 hours before their appointment. This includes milk, baby foods, infant formula, and juices that contain pulp.
- Your child may have clear liquids up to 2 hours before their appointment. Clear liquids are liquids that you can see through such as electrolyte replacement solutions, apple juice, etc.
- Nursing infants may have breast milk up to 4 hours before their appointment.
- Your child MUST NOT have anything (food or liquid) beginning 2 hours before the appointment.
Do not allow your child to chew gum or have hard candy the day of their procedure.
For their safety, if your child arrives and has not followed the above guidelines, their test will be delayed or rescheduled.
What happens during my child's appointment?
Once you have checked in at the Admitting desk, you and your child will be interviewed by the sedation team. Family support is the best comfort we can give any child, so we encourage you to stay with your child while he or she is being sedated. We will also make sure you are the first thing your child sees when he or she wakes up from sedation.
The type of sedation the team uses is chosen based on your child's age, weight, general condition, and the procedure/test being performed. The majority of procedures done under sedation involve IV administration of medicines. Please make us aware of any problems your child may have had in the past with IV insertions so we can make a plan that best fits your child's needs.
Throughout the procedure, the sedation team will be closely monitoring your child's vital signs including blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory status. Once the procedure is complete we continue to closely monitor your child until they are fully awake and your are comfortable taking them home.
We will give you written guidelines for your child's care when you leave the Sedation Unit.
If you have questions about your child's sedation, please call the PICU Sedation Team at 859-257-5337.
In case of fever or illness
If your child has been ill with a fever or cold symptoms or has been on antibiotics for an illness in the past 2 weeks, please call our scheduler at 859-257-5337. For your child's safety, you may need to reschedule if your child is sick.
Refer a patient for a sedation procedure
- Complete the KCH .
- Include a physician’s order for the requested procedure.
- Fax to 859-323-2768 or call the sedation coordinator at 859-257-5337.
Note: The preferred methods of contact are listed above. However, if you do not get a response from the sedation team within a reasonable amount of time, you may page the sedation coordinator directly at 859-330-0048.