• Mark A Griffiths, Pradip P Kamat, Courtney E McCracken, and Harold K Simon.
• Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, 1645 Tullie Circle, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA, magriff@emory.edu.
• Pediatr Radiol. 2013 Oct 1; 43 (10): 1273-8.

BackgroundConcerns exist in the community of non-anesthesiologist sedation providers regarding the appropriateness of prolonged sedations using propofol for outpatient procedures.ObjectiveTo investigate interventions required, completion rate and resource use in prolonged vs. short sedations using propofol in outpatients.Materials And MethodsWe reviewed retrospectively 213 children sedated with propofol by a non-anesthesiologist sedation service. Cohorts were composed a priori of children sedated for ≥1 h and <1 h. Comparisons were made regarding need for interventions, sedation duration, sedation completion to discharge time, and procedural completion rate.ResultsMost sedations were for MRI (87.5% short vs. 94.5% prolonged) with no statistically significant difference in overall need for interventions (75.2% prolonged vs. 65.4% short) nor completion to discharge times (30.7 ± 11.5 min [prolonged] vs. 30.3 ± 11.7 min [short]) between both groups. One child failed to complete the intended scan. No one required endotracheal intubation or unplanned admission.ConclusionProlonged outpatient sedations with propofol conducted by appropriately trained non-anesthesiology sedation providers appears effective for imaging procedures with no increase in interventions or increased resource burden compared to short sedations. This information can assist all stakeholders in determining scope of practice and guidelines for moderately longer pediatric sedations with propofol.

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