Analysis of MRI Utilization in Pediatric Patients

Introduction: Although animal studies have consistently demonstrated long-term neurocognitive deficits following early anesthetic exposure under certain conditions, risk in human children remains unknown. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in young patients often requires anesthesia to facilitate image acquisition. We studied MRI utilization in a pediatric population, and associated use of anesthesia for ambulatory MRI. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the New York State Inpatient Database and State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Database on MRI performed in children under the age of 18 years from 2005 to 2011. Demographic characteristics of children who underwent inpatient or ambulatory MRI were evaluated. A subset of ambulatory MRI patients was assessed to evaluate associated use of anesthesia. Results: Overall, 2% of pediatric inpatient discharges (55,036/2,779,507), and 0.5% of pediatric ambulatory encounters (4670/943,520), had MRI performed. Inpatient MRI utilization did not change over time. Ambulatory MRI utilization decreased by 55.2%, from 8.07 per 1000 encounters in 2005 to 2006 to 3.62 per 1000 encounters in 2007 to 2011 (P
Source: Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Departments: Supplement: Proceedings of the Fifth PANDA Symposium on Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children Source Type: research