Golan Agneta, Marco Rina, Raz Hagit, Shany Eilon
Department of Neonatology, Soroka University Medical Center and Faculty of Health Sciences, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Isr Med Assoc J. 2011 Nov;13(11):663-5.
Neonatal cerebral imaging is a sensitive technique for evaluating brain injury in the neonatal period. When performing computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, sedation is needed to prevent motion artifacts. However, general anesthesia in neonates carries significant risks and requires a complex logistic approach that often limits the use of these modalities. The development of infant immobilizers now enables imaging without general anesthesia and significantly increases clinical and research investigational opportunities.
To assess the efficacy of the infant immobilizer instead of general anesthesia for infants undergoing imaging.
The study group comprised all infants born over a 1 year period at Soroka University Medical Center who required imaging such as MRI, CT or bone scans. A MedVac Vacuum Splint infant immobilizer was used in all infants to prevent motion during imaging. The success rate of a single scan and the need for general anesthesia were assessed.
Forty infants were examined during 1 year. The studies included 15 CT scans, 25 MRIs and 1 bone scan. The infants' gestational age at birth was 27-40 weeks and the examinations were performed at ages ranging from delivery to 6 months old. All imaging was successful and none of the infants required general anesthesia.
An infant immobilizer should be used for imaging of newborns. Since this method carries a low risk and has a high success rate, general anesthesia in newborns is justified only when this non-invasive procedure fails.
新生儿脑成像技术是评估新生儿期脑损伤的一种敏感技术。在进行计算机断层扫描或磁共振成像时，需要进行镇静以防止运动伪影。然而，新生儿全身麻醉存在重大风险，且需要复杂的后勤保障措施，这常常限制了这些检查方式的使用。婴儿固定器的研发使得无需全身麻醉即可进行成像，大大增加了临床和研究的调查机会。
评估婴儿固定器替代全身麻醉用于婴儿成像的效果。
研究组包括索罗卡大学医学中心在1年期间出生且需要进行MRI、CT或骨扫描等成像检查的所有婴儿。所有婴儿均使用MedVac真空夹板婴儿固定器以防止成像过程中的运动。评估单次扫描的成功率和全身麻醉的需求。
1年期间共检查了40名婴儿。研究包括15次CT扫描、25次MRI检查和1次骨扫描。婴儿出生时的胎龄为27 - 40周，检查在出生至6个月大的不同年龄段进行。所有成像均成功，无一例婴儿需要全身麻醉。
婴儿固定器应用于新生儿成像。由于该方法风险低且成功率高，仅在这种非侵入性程序失败时，新生儿全身麻醉才合理。
