Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital

At Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, pediatric sedation can be administered to enhance safety and comfort during tests or procedures. Board-certified, subspecialty-trained pediatric critical care physicians and world-class anesthesiologists lead the sedation team. Our dedicated and experienced pediatric sedation nurses continuously assess and carefully monitor each child before, during and after his or her entire procedure.

Tests or procedures that require pediatric sedation include, but are not limited to:

• The placement of peripherally inserted central catheters, bone marrow aspiration
• Intrathecal chemotherapy administration
• Echocardiograms
• Cardiac catheterization
• Renal biopsies
• Endoscopic procedures
• CT scans
• MRI
• X-rays
• Nuclear medicine studies
• EEGs
• Voiding cystourethrograms
• Auditory brainstem response tests

Advantages of The Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Experience

We are dedicated to providing care that exceeds the expectations of the patients, families and referring pediatricians we serve. Here are some of the advantages of pediatric sedation at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital:

Safety and Quality Focused

• Strict adherence to the American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Sedation of Children
• Immediate access to all specialists and higher levels of care in case of an emergency
• Participation in the nationwide Image Gently^SM campaign, recently introduced by the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging to raise awareness and educate health professionals and parents about the need to lower and limit the exposure of children to radiation
• Calibration of equipment in accordance with the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle
• Customized techniques using "child-size" doses of radiation
• Technologically advanced equipment and monitoring capabilities specifically adapted for pediatric patients
• Continued process improvement to maintain up-to-date sedation practices

A Highly Trained Team of Experts

• In-house, board-certified, subspecialty-trained pediatric critical care physicians and anesthesiologists leading the sedation team
• Board-certified, subspecialty-trained pediatric radiologists monitoring and interpreting pediatric imaging studies
• Dedicated, experienced pediatric sedation nurses continuously assessing and carefully monitoring each child before, during and after his or her entire procedure

Prompt Attention and Efficient Service

• Three-day scheduling for most types of radiological tests
• A personal phone call to the patient's parent or guardian to discuss all questions and fasting instructions one business day prior to the procedure
• A radiology report to the ordering physician within three business days of the procedure
• A CD copy of the patient's radiological study upon request

A Warm, Welcoming Environment

• Patient- and family-centered services individualized to help meet each child's needs
• Child life specialists who teach and distract each child using developmentally appropriate play
• Readily available interpreter services

Pediatric Sedation Services Brochure