Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
Anesthesia & Sedation
About Sedation
Parents: please note that occasionally due to the age of a child and the type of exam, (i.e. a child must remain very still for a long period of time, an anticipated uncomfortable procedure), a child may need to be sedated for an examination. The decision to sedate a patient is made by both the referring doctor and the radiologist. Plans for sedation are made at the time the exam is scheduled.
Read more about pediatric sedation, which is done in a special area at the Vermont Children's Hospital called the Comfort Zone.
About Anesthesia
The good news is anesthesia is the sleepy medicine that is going to make it very easy for you to get your special pictures taken. But, there are some hard parts to it.
First, you can't eat or drink anything 4 hours before the pictures are taken. It would probably be easiest if you had your appointment scheduled as early as possible in the morning.
Then there is the IV. The IV is a catheter, or tube, that goes into your vein so you can get medicine from there. We will give you a white cream that you need to put on your arm before you come into the hospital that will help us put your IV in.
But sometimes that might not work and you might need to get the numbing medicine with a needle. Now, we will not kid you, the numbing medicine will feel like an insect sting, but it will only last a few seconds. Then you will not feel anything. That is the hardest part. After that, all you have to do is wake up.
