Oral Sedation of Pediatric Patients for Noninvasive Radiological Procedures: Chloral Hydrate Versus Midazolam

Oral midazolam versus oral triclofos for sedation of children for computed tomography scan - a randomized clinical trial

“…11,12,13 Higher doses of oral midazolam have been used in pediatric dentistry, echocardiography and in neuro-imaging studies as well. 2,13,14 We chose the dose of 0.75 mg/kg oral midazolam for our study.…”

“…However, these drugs are often associated with prolonged recovery time and sedation related morbidity. [1][2][3] Although various combinations of drugs and routes of administration have been used the oral route remains the least threatening method of drug administration in children.…”

“…2,3,6 The objective of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of oral triclofos 100mg/kg and oral midazolam 0.75 mg/kg for sedation in children undergoing computed tomography (CT) scan.…”

Question 1 Chloral hydrate or midazolam: which is better for sedating children for painless diagnostic imaging?: Table 1

“…Two large retrospective studies have also compared the safety and effectiveness of chloral hydrate versus midazolam for use in children less than 5 years of age as sedation for painless imaging 7 8. These studies also reported chloral hydrate was more effective than midazolam in enabling successful completion of the painless imaging studies, and reported minimal adverse events in both group.…”

Prospective clinical audit of chloral hydrate administration practices in a neonatal unit

“…3,10,11 However, the use of sedatives is not without its risks. 9,13 Moreover, the documented side effects of single-dose or short-term chloral hydrate use can include mild respiratory depression, decreased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, lethargy, and paradoxical agitation. 3,9 Use of chloral hydrate as a sedative in the neonatal unit Since its introduction by Liebreich in 1869, chloral hydrate is one of the most commonly used sedatives in the clinical setting, [9][10][11] and despite the availability of other sedatives such as midazolam and pentobarbital, chloral hydrate remains a common choice of sedative for neonates, especially for imagingrelated procedures.…”