Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Pilot Study of Dexmedetomidine-Propofol in Children Undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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The protocol for A Pilot Study of Dexmedetomidine-Propofol in Children Undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been approved by the Boston Children’s Hospital Internal Review Board and is open for enrollment. Below you will find an informative PowerPoint with details about the study. In addition, the investigators invite you to visit ClinicalTrials.gov, where this study is registered with the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

DEX MRI Powerpoint

DEX MRI Brochure

PACU Waltham- Post Anesthesia Care Unit Project in Waltham

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Quality outcomes in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) have always been a goal of hospital care at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). A considerable number of metrics can be used to measure quality of outcomes in the PACU – such as the incidence of postoperative pain, the incidence and degree of emergence delirium, and number of patients who experience post-operative vomiting. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of outcomes in the PACU at BCH and to identify preoperative demographic and behavioral data as well as intraoperative and anesthetic predictors of adverse PACU outcomes. Because BCH Waltham outpatient surgery patients are selected as having ASA health status 1 or 2, it is likely that the outcomes from their care will be dependent on these factors rather than their underlying pathology.  We believe this will help us improve post anesthetic care quality and create a higher level of satisfaction for patients, family, and health care providers.

Learn More About This Study

PACU Waltham Informational Brochure

PACU Waltham Informational Slideshow

PACU Waltham Protocol

PACU Waltham Informed Consent

Project Status

This study has been approved by the IRB and we are currently enrolling participants.  

Our Collaborators:

William Sparks, MD
Associate in Perioperative Anesthesia
Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine,
Boston Children’s Hospital

All Staff and Nursing Providers,
Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU),
Boston Children’s Hospital Waltham

PSSS – Pediatric Sedation State Scale

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Safe and efficacious procedural sedation practices have always been a goal of hospital care at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH).  Procedural sedation occurs in a wide variety of hospital settings; these areas include Radiology (Interventional Radiology, CT, and Nuclear Medicine), Dentistry, Oral Surgery/Plastics, Otolaryngology, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute-Boston Children’s Hospital (DFCI-BCH) Jimmy Fund Clinic.  The pediatric sedation regimens in these settings can vary considerably both in terms of the type of provider overseeing the sedative procedures and the extent to which standard protocols adequately achieve an appropriate sedated “state” over time. Patient “state” is defined using a combination of behavioral observations along with the presence or absence of side effects from the sedative agents used.  The purpose of this study, using expert observational analysis, is to validate an objective Pediatric Sedation State Scale (PSSS) that can quantifiably identify the achievement and maintenance of a safe and effective sedative “state” in the pediatric patient across a range of settings, procedures, and providers. Application of this scale will help improve procedural sedation practice quality and safety at BCH and, ultimately, other healthcare centers, thereby creating a higher level of satisfaction for patients, family, and health care providers.

Projects Status: 

Enrollment has finished and data from that collection effort in the process of being analyzed.

Approved Study Materials:

Our Collaborators:

Validation of the Pediatric Sedation State Scale (PSSS) will occur initially in the following clinics, with sedation providers as co-investigators, at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic.

  • Interventional Radiology: Floreen Knight, RN, BSN
  • Dentistry: Isabelle Chase, DDS
  • Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Hannah Desrochers, RN
  • Otolaryngology: Susan Keuker, MSN, FNP
  • Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Jimmy Fund Clinic: Jeanine McManus