Impact of Anesthesia Strategy on Infant Pulmonary Function Test Quality and Duration.
Polypharmacy sedation added about 12 minutes to infant pulmonary function testing versus chloral hydrate.
Impact of Anesthesia Strategy on Infant Pulmonary Function Test Quality and Duration.
While chloral hydrate (chloral hydrate) has been standard for infant pulmonary function testing (iPFT) sedation, chloral hydrate shortages are necessitating use of different sedation approaches.
We aimed to compare the safety, test duration, and test quality of alternative sedation strategies for iPFT.
We conducted a retrospective chart review of iPFT conducted at our center from January 2019 to December 2021.
Sixty-six children had iPFT (chloral hydrate n = 42, ketamine and midazolam n = 10, PP n = 8, and dexmedetomidine n = 6).
Testing types and proportion of satisfactory tests did not significantly differ between chloral hydrate and the other sedation strategies.
In the multivariable analysis, compared to chloral hydrate, we found that procedure time was shorter for ketamine and midazolam, induction time was shorter for dexmedetomidine, and recovery time was longer for dexmedetomidine, yet total testing duration did not differ between chloral hydrate and ketamine and midazolam (p = 0.61) or dexmedetomidine (p = 0.22).
Our findings provide preliminary evidence that ketamine and midazolam, dexmedetomidine, and PP may be safe and effective alternatives to chloral hydrate for iPFT sedation.