Choice and adequacy of sedation in critically ill mechanically ventilated children: A single center prospective observational study

Abstract

Background: Sedation management is a crucial element of pediatric critical care medicine, aiming at reducing children's anxiety, distress, and oxygen demand. Prolonged administration of sedatives may result in drug tolerance and physical dependency. Abrupt discontinuation of these drugs in children may cause withdrawal symptoms. Our study aims to evaluate the choice and adequacy of sedation in ventilated children using the University of Michigan Sedation Scale score. Subjects and Methods: All the children aged between 1 and 12 years who were subjected to invasive ventilation during the time period October 2019 to June 2021 in the tertiary care pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) were included in the study. Results: Of the 35 children enrolled in the study, most of them spend the majority of their time in adequate sedation which accounts for around 87.1% of the total time of ventilation. Fentanyl and midazolam were the most frequently used drug combination. Oversedation and undersedation accounted for 7.9% and 5% of total ventilation hours, respectively. Out of 35 children, 10 (28%) developed iatrogenic withdrawal symptoms and 4 (11%) developed severe withdrawal symptoms. Conclusions: Fentanyl and midazolam were the most frequently used drug combination for attaining adequate sedation in our PICU. Irrespective of adequate sedation, no increase in the incidence of iatrogenic withdrawal syndrome, undersedation, or oversedation was noted in our study population.