Journal of Pain Research (Jul 2020)
Serious Adverse Events in Pediatric Procedural Sedation Before and After the Implementation of a Pre-Sedation Checklist
Abstract
Simona Librov,1 Itai Shavit2 1Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; 2Emergency Department, Ruth Children’s Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, IsraelCorrespondence: Itai Shavit POB 274, Kibutz Maayan Tzvi, 3080500, IsraelTel +972-50-2063239Fax +972-4-8543109Email [email protected]: Procedural sedation is considered by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as a high-risk procedure when performed in the emergency department (ED). A pre-sedation checklist is a set of items checked before any sedation. We evaluated the impact of a pre-sedation checklist on the rate of serious adverse events (SAE) in a pediatric ED.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study comparing the rate of SAE in children treated with the combination of ketamine and propofol before and after the implementation of a pre-sedation checklist. The before-and-after periods lasted from 1.1.2013 to 30.6.2016 and from 1.7.2016 to 30.6.2019, respectively. Patient data were extracted from the electronic medical records using an integrated business intelligence information system.Results: The before-and-after cohorts included 1349 and 1846 patients, respectively. The two groups were similar with regard to age, sex, length and type of procedure, medications dosage, and level of physicians’ training. A total of 183/1349 (13.5%) and 420/1846 (22.7%) SAE were recorded during the before-checklist and after-checklist periods, respectively (p< 0.0001). The rates of laryngospasm, apnea, and oxygen saturation ≤ 90% at the before-and-after checklist periods were 9/1349 (0.6%) and 30/1846 (1.6%); p< 0.05, 48/1349 (3.5%) and 77/1846 (4.2%); p=0.37, and 123/1349 (9.1%) and 312/1846 (16.9%); p< 0.0001, respectively. All the SAE were successfully managed by the emergency physicians and no patient required hospitalization due to a SAE.Conclusion: In this large cohort of ED children who underwent deep sedation, the administration of a pre-sedation checklist was not associated with a reduction in SAE rate.Keywords: sedation, checklist, adverse events, pediatric
