General anaesthesia for MRI in children with hypotonia: a case series.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

To characterize the safety of general anaesthesia, used to facilitate MRI in children with clinical hypotonia, and to determine whether this technique could be performed safely as an outpatient procedure.

METHODS

All children (age <or=12 years) who underwent MRI with general anaesthesia as a part of their diagnostic work-up for hypotonia at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2006, were identified. Demographics, medical history, anaesthetic details, postanaesthetic disposition and the disease state identified as the cause of hypotonia, if available, were recorded.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven children underwent 38 general anaesthetics. Age was 2.7 +/- 2.3 years (range, 8 days-9 years). A volatile anaesthetic was employed in 37 out of 38 instances and nitrous oxide was used in 31. Three children experienced minor intraprocedural adverse events, and three children experienced minor adverse events in the postanaesthesia recovery room. No child required an unanticipated hospital admission or was re-admitted following discharge due to adverse events. A specific causative disease process was eventually identified in 17 children and represented a diverse group of disorders; a final diagnosis was never obtained in the remaining 20 children.

CONCLUSION

Use of general anaesthesia to facilitate MRI in children with clinical hypotonia appears to be a well tolerated practice. No major peri-procedural adverse events were noted, and all minor adverse events were either easily treated or resolved spontaneously.