Every time our children have to do medical tests our hearts shrink, but if they are also just babies, the anguish multiplies, even though we know that it is totally harmless and does not harm them.
So the news that they have come up with new techniques that reduce the hassle of any small test is always good. This is the case of the Neonatology Service of the General University Hospital of Elche, which uses a “pioneering” technique to perform MRIs on babies from which about 20 children have already benefited.
The technique, which has already been in operation in the hospital for a year, consists of the use of a special mattress, called a vacuum mattress, where the baby is placed, which means that sedation is not necessary to perform an MRI.
Avoid sedation and simplify the test
Magnetic resonance imaging in babies is indicated mainly when suspected of pathologies such as perinatal asphyxia, encephalopathies, hypoxia, ischemias, intracranial hemorrhages, dilation of the cerebral ventricles … This new technique allows MRIs to be carried out in babies up to three months old and weighing more than two kilos without the need for sedation.
Aurelia Carbonell, a nurse at the Neonatology Service of the Hospìtal de Elche, explains that “we learned about the existence of the technique in a training course on neurodevelopmental care, held at the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, attended by several Neonatology nurses “.
For this reason, the Head of the Neonatology Section, Dr. José Luis Quiles, adds:
“When we saw the good results presented by the use of this vacuum mattress and the good cost-benefit ratio, we spoke with the pediatricians of the Unit and with the Head of the Pediatric Service and we decided to acquire one of these mattresses for the Elche center” .
When very young babies have to be MRI “it is common for them to move” , so these types of tests have to be done under sedation, which “may carry some risks .” In addition, when using light sedation “it is common for the baby to move at some point during the test, so it must be stopped until it is sedated again and you can continue.”
Now, thanks to this mattress, babies are wrapped and the mattress material limits their movements, thus eliminating the need to sedate children.
As the experts explain, babies are cited to do the resonances at the time of their milk feeds , since they tend to fall asleep afterwards.
Another advantage of the technique, in addition to avoiding sedation, is that it speeds up “a lot” the performance of the test, since by ensuring that the babies do not move, there are no distortions in the image and it can be performed continuously, without needing to stop every so often to see if the baby has moved. Therefore, it is “much safer”.
Route and photos | Elche General University Hospital (GVA)
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