Loading...
Clinicians are forever in search of the ideal sedating agent for children undergoing head computed tomography (CT). In this retrospective cohort study, investigators compared the barbiturates methohexital (initial intravenous dose, 1.0 mg/kg) and pentobarbital (initial IV dose, 2.0 mg/kg) for head CT sedation in an urban academic pediatric emergency department. If sedation was inadequate after the first dose, subsequent doses of 0.5 mg/kg of methohexital (up to 2.0 mg/kg) or 2.0 mg/kg of pentobarbital (up to 6.0 mg/kg) were given at 5-minute intervals. Outcome measures were adequacy of sedation, time to completion of CT, total duration of sedation monitoring, and adverse events during sedation.
Of patients with complete medical records, 21 r…