MRI risks?

[tlampley3]

Can anyone tell me the risks involved when doing an MRI on newborns? They want to do one on my 5 week old daughter to rule out arterial anomalies.

[missy]

Would they put her to sleep for that? I would think, in that case, the greatest amount of risk with be with general aenesthesia.

Missy

[tlampley3]

yes, they want to put her to sleep. :-( does anyone know how long they are under and what the likelihood for complications is?

[DevsMom]

I'm not sure that there are actual statistics on the risk of general anesthesia on an infant. The length of the scan depends on what area they plan to look at. I would ask the doctor, anesthesiologist and maybe even the nurse who usually calls to set the appointment and give you information. My son had two MRI's done with general anesthesia, he was a bit older though,,,6 months and then 18 months. He did really well both times, and I'm sure the whole ordeal bothered me more than it did him. He also had general anesthesia two more times, once for surgery and once for suture removal following surgery. They usually allow a parent to be present when they administer the anesthesia ,,, up until the child is asleep. They scanned my sons chest and head and I believe he was in the room about 35-45 minutes. If it's any comfort to you my son remembers NONE of it, and we have had to explain to him why he has a red nose in his baby pictures.