Imaging Adventure Creates Happy Endings for Kids

摘要

Pediatric imaging is a tricky business. Staying still represents a challenge for pint-sized patients, translating into routine sedation, which in turn, brings safety concerns as well as throughput challenges, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) addressed the problem by launching its Adventure Series program, which employs theme-based imaging suites outfitted with music and videos and staffed by carefully trained technologists. After launching the first room in September 2005, the program expanded to nine rooms in May 2009. CT served as the pilot project for the adventure series. CHP houses two themed CT suites: Pirate Island and Coral City. The number of sedations for pediatric CT plummeted from 354 cases in 2005 to four in 2009. Total sedation among all imaging modalities dropped another 25 percent between 2009 and 2011. The program eliminated the department's 16- to 18-day CT backlog, while volume swelled 66 percent between 2009 and 2011. Partial credit for these outcomes rests with rewards for patients. Pirate Island includes a treasure chest where children can choose their reward for remaining still and being brave, says Kathleen Kapsin, (RT), MS, director of radiology at CHP.