Rate of respiratory adverse events during procedural sedation

The Children’s Emergency (CE) provides initial evaluation, stabilisation and treatment to acutely ill or injured infants and children.

With our doctors and nurses trained in paediatric emergency medicine, you can be assured that we are ready and available to provide safe and immediate services to your child.

Range of Services:

Identification, stabilisation and treatment of all acute paediatric emergencies (medical, surgical & trauma)
Paediatric Injury Surveillance
Paediatric Trauma Registry
Child safety patient education
Monitoring of paediatric poisonings
Coordination of major incident response in national emergencies
Paediatric Field Team support in major incident
Management of victims of non-accidental injury
Procedural Sedation

CE manages 800 - 900 patients that require procedural sedation annually. Most of these patients have trauma-related medical conditions that require minor surgical procedures to be performed under sedation in the emergency department. The department tracks the clinical outcome and safety of procedural sedation by monitoring the rate of respiratory adverse event (oxygen desaturation) that occurs during sedation. This is compared against a published benchmark of 3.9%.

In the Children’s Emergency, the rate of respiratory adverse events (oxygen desaturation) during procedural sedation ranges between 0.5 to 2.9%, indicating a high level of safety in the practice.

Benchmark: 3.9% respiratory AE- Green et al. Predictors of Airway and Respiratory Adverse Events With Ketamine Sedation in the Emergency Department: An Individual- Patient Data Meta-analysis of 8,282 Children. Ann Emerg Med. 2009;54:158-168.

Rate of Respiratory Adverse Events during Procedural Sedation (%)