Pediatric Sedation/PICC Line Service
309-655-3487
What is Pediatric Sedation?
Procedural sedation is the use of medications to help a child relax or sleep during a procedure. This is important since children are sometimes unable to tolerate certain tests or procedures while they are fully awake. Our goals are to manage anxiety and stress related to a procedure, minimize pain and provide ideal procedural conditions, so that your child’s procedure can be successfully completed with comfort and safety.
Procedures that May Require Sedation
Sedation may be needed for any test or procedure that is anxiety-producing, painful or requires a child to hold still in a particular position. Some tests or procedures may take a few minutes while some may take longer. We provide sedation for inpatient and outpatient settings.
Common procedures requiring Sedation Include:
- Aspirations and biopsies
- Bone marrow aspirations
- Bone scans
- Botulism toxin muscle injections
- CT scans
- Echocardiograph
- EEG
- Hearing evaluations (auditory brainstem response)
- Interventional radiology procedures
- Liver and kidney biopsies
- Lumbar punctures
- MIBG scan
- MRI scans
- PET scans
- PICC line placements
- Radiation treatments
- Renal nuclear medicine imaging
- Surgical dressing changes
- Voiding cystourethrography (VCUG)
Our Program
Our pediatric sedation service has been serving children since 1999. Our team includes highly trained pediatric hospitalists, pediatric intensivists and nurses who work closely with families to determine the most appropriate sedation plan for their child. Some of our nurses have advanced training for the placement of pediatric PICC lines.
We are gold members in the Society for Pediatric Sedation (SPS) and the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium. The SPS strives to be the international leader in the advancement of pediatric sedation by promoting safe, high quality care, innovative research and quality professional education.
Our Team
Medical Director:
Keith Hanson, MD, PhD
Nursing Leadership
Kimberly Horack, RN - Clinical Coordinator
Tiffany Klein, RN - Clinic Manager
Office Coordinator:
Donna Bronson
Pediatric Sedation Doctors
Michele Beekman, MD
Jim Crooks, MD
Jonathan Gehlbach, MD
Keith Hanson, MD
Ali Haroon, MD
Nabil Hassan, MD
Umair Iqbal, MD
Harleena Kendhari, MD
Ed Martinez, MD
Meghana Nadiger, MD
Nadia Shaikh, MD
Prachi Syngal, MD
Sandeep Tripathi, MD
Billy Wang, MD
Nursing Team
Kim Camp, RN
Annette Fehr, RN
Ellen Mathewson, RN
Taylor O'Neill, RN
Keith Tarrant, RN
Preparing for the procedure
- Your doctor will order your test. If it is ordered with sedation, our scheduling department will call you to arrange your appointment time and date.
- After you schedule an appointment, we will call you to complete the sedation screening, answer questions and provide fasting instructions for your child.
- Before each procedure or sedation service, our care team will review your child’s health record and will work with your family to determine the appropriate plan for your child’s sedation.
Day of the procedure
- Most pediatric patients are asked to arrive 1 ½ hours prior to procedure time.
- If an IV is needed, we will place a numbing cream on the appropriate body site(s).
- Sedation is given through an IV, mouth, nasal spray or an inhaled gas (laughing gas). Sometimes your child may receive a combination of these. This will be discussed in the sedation screening phone call prior to the procedure date and on the day of the procedure.
- Health history will be reviewed with the family.
- For some procedures, parents are allowed to remain with their child during the full procedure. For procedures where parents can’t stay, the team will direct you to a waiting area after your child falls asleep, but prior to the procedure or test.
After the procedure:
- Children can drink fluids and eat after waking up. You may bring your child’s favorite food or snack with you to the appointment. We also have age-appropriate snacks available. If your child is nursing or drinking formula, please bring your own bottles and formula.
- Once your child has been awake for at least 30 minutes and able to eat and drink, he or she may leave the sedation clinic with their parents or guardian.
- Further instructions will be given from the nurse upon discharge for returning to activities. Most children can attend school the next day.
Health problems that may require general anesthesia instead of sedation:
- Sleep apnea or central apnea
- Facial condition that distorts the airway
- Uncontrolled seizures
- Complex congenital heart disease or heart failure
- Increased pressure on the brain
Reasons to reschedule or cancel a procedure
Sedation may not be performed if your child is sick with a cough, cold, fever or vomiting. If this occurs, please call our sedation team to inform the providers and discuss the care plan at (309) 655-3487.