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PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA

Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Increases Core Body Temperature in Sedated Children

Yvon F. Bryan, MD^*, Thomas W. Templeton, MD, Todd G. Nick, PhD, Martin Szafran, BS, and Avery Tung, MD^¶

*Department of Clinical Anesthesia and Clinical Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio; Department of Pediatric Anesthesia and Critical Care, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Pritzker School of Medicine, ¶Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yvon F. Bryan, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesia and Clinical Pediatrics, Department of Anesthesia, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, MLC 2001, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229. Address e-mail to yvon.bryan{at}cchmc.org.

An increasing number of children now undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) under sedation. MRI requires a cool environment. Because children have a larger surface area to body weight ratio than adults and because active warming devices are not MRI compatible, hypothermia as a result of passive heat loss is a risk. Absorption of radiofrequency radiation generated by the scanning process, however, may partially offset this heat loss. To determine the effect of absorbed radiofrequency radiation on body temperature during MRI, we measured pre-MRI and post-MRI tympanic temperatures in 30 children who underwent brain MRI while sedated with chloral hydrate and covered with a hospital gown and blanket. The mean (± sd) age was 14.9 ± 8.6 mo, and weight was 9.8 ± 2.8 kg. During an average scan duration of 42 ± 13 min, mean tympanic temperatures increased 0.5°C from 36.9°C ± 0.4°C to 37.4°C ± 0.3°C; (95% CI difference, 0.3°C to 0.7°C; P < 0.001). Our findings suggest that children sedated with chloral hydrate for brain MRI did not become hypothermic but rather had increased body temperature despite minimal barriers to heat loss and no active warming. These results imply that aggressive measures to prevent passive heat loss during MRI studies may not be needed in all patients.

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