Pediatric Sedation Center
Our Pediatric Procedural Sedation Center inside Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida is a special group of professionals who are experts in providing sedation to our pediatric population. Children who require diagnostic tests, procedures or imaging may need sedation to make them feel as comfortable, pain free and stress free as possible.
The Pediatric Procedural Sedation team includes a multidisciplinary team of professionals specially trained to provide sedation services to our pediatric population. Each member of our team shares the same goal every day: to provide quality, individualized care for your child in order to keep them safe and comfortable. Our team consists of highly trained pediatric intensivists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and child life specialists.
SPS Center of Excellence in Pediatric Sedation
We are honored to share that Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida has been recognized as a Pediatric Sedation Center of Excellence by The Society for Pediatric Sedation® (SPS). Golisano Children’s Hospital joins only 11 other hospitals in the country with this designation and the only one in Southwest Florida. Learn more here!
What is pediatric sedation?
Pediatric sedation is a method of using one or more agents to induce a level of sedation to facilitate the successful completion of a diagnostic procedure. The goal is to help reduce awareness, anxiety, pain, and discomfort while maintaining patient safety. This can be done with the use of medications or non-pharmacologic interventions. Your child’s care team will develop a plan during your visit. We take the child’s developmental stage, age, medical history, weight, and type of diagnostic study ordered all into consideration when making this decision.
Pediatric procedural sedation IS NOT anesthesia. The medications utilized provide various levels of sedation (mild, moderate, or deep) based on the procedure or study being performed.
Procedures Which May Require Pediatric Sedation
By choosing Golisano’s sedation center services, your family or primary care referring physician guarantees the best possible care for a frightened child from infant to over 18. Our unique, dual approach to children’s health care sets us apart from the competition in Southwest Florida as well as the rest of the nation.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Computed Tomography (CT) scan
- Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) placement
- Lumbar puncture for diagnostics and/or medication administration
- Spinraza injections: therapy for spinal muscular atrophy
- Bone marrow aspirate and/or biopsy: provided by the Hematology/Oncology and sedation unit
- Hearing evaluations with auditory brainstem response (ABR)
- MIBG scan: identify & localize certain types of cancer
- Positron emission tomography (PET) scan
- Labs draws
- Echocardiogram (ECHO)
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- Radiation (offsite)
- Eye exams
- Various dressing changes for wounds/Wound Care
- CT/Ultrasound guided drainage of abscess
- Botox Injections (Botulinum toxin): typically used for tight/contracted tendons and ligaments or excessive salivation
- Urology procedures including Circumcisions
- Various interventional radiology (IR) procedures
Pediatric sedation may not always be required.
Depending on the length of the study ordered, alternative, non-pharmacologic interventions may be discussed. Proper preparation, distraction, and play can provide enough comfort and support for your child during a procedure. Our Child Life Specialists may use toys such as bubbles and light spinners, iPads, or movie glasses to make your child laugh and put his or her mind at ease. We personalize each patient’s experience based on their likes and needs!
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Child Life Services
Putting the needs of children first by focusing on psychosocial care and emotional well-being
Role of Child Life Specialists in Pediatric Sedation
- Our child life specialists are actively involved in evaluating children to determine if they may be a candidate to go without sedation.
- Golisano Children’s Hospital of SWFL is a Certified Autism Center through professional training and certification with IBCCES
- For children requiring a CT scan or MRI, they will be shown a miniature replica of the large machine.
- Cinema vision: In our MRI department we have “cinema vision” goggles that allow your child to lay back and watch a movie. The goggles turn the MRI machine into a personal movie theater and enable our patients to sit still for longer periods of time without sedation. We fill our MRI rooms with soothing colors, relaxing wall displays, and music which your child can select.
- Vecta Mobile Sensory Station: This exciting, valuable tool features a bubble tube that changes color, an LED projector that casts colorful pictures on the walls or ceiling, and a CD player. The Vecta features fiber optic light strands that the child can play with for additional sensory needs.
- iPads: Child Life Specialists also have iPads with games for distraction during procedures and specially made prep books to show first-hand experience of MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, PICC lines, ultrasounds, etc.
- Our Sensory Room or Multi-Sensory Environment (MSE) provides a dedicated space where your child can engage their senses in a unique, controlled atmosphere. This room provides relaxation, opportunities for the child to make choices, and enhances sensory stimulation, especially for children with developmental needs.
Who gets pediatric sedation?
If your child needs a test or procedure that requires them to sit or lay still for a few minutes or several hours, they may need pediatric sedation. Sedation helps your child remain calm and relaxed and can assist us in getting the most accurate results possible. Sedation is also used for procedures or tests which may be uncomfortable or painful.
Pediatric Sedation Evaluation and Planning
Preparing your child for sedation depends on what works best for your child and family. Our team of specialists including child life will help you tailor your child’s experience to help minimize their stress. You can request a call from our child life specialist to discuss any likes or dislikes your child may have prior to your visit.
The sedation team led by the pediatric intensivist will develop the sedation plan for your child’s procedure or test which we will discuss thoroughly with you during your visit.
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