Pediatric sedation in radiology: The practice of safe sleep

Children will probably always need to be sedated for some radiologic procedures, and controlling the state of consciousness of a child involves more than selecting an agent. The safe and effective sedation process emanates from a carefully designed sedation program. This program begins even before it is determined that sedation is necessary to properly perform a radiologic examination or procedure. Although several issues, controversies, and choices are involved, the context and dialogue of sedation must originate from the principle of protecting the health and safety of children.