The COVID-19 era and pediatric procedural sedation: A consecutive case series with an emphasis on preparation, precautions, and risk reduction

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged health care systems to balance high standards of care with patients' needs and health care workers' safety.1 Pediatric sedation poses multiple potential contagion risks: aerosol generating procedures such as bag-valve mask ventilation and oro-pharyngeal suctioning2 , close proximity of the sedationist to the patient's airway, the need for airway manipulation or insertion of airway devices and the risk of patient vomiting and coughing. Although COVID risk mitigation to providers is achieved for elective procedures that allow for pre-sedation COVID-19 testing, it is important to recognize that there are still false negatives, with sensitivity cited to be as low as 73.3%3 . For this reason, thoughtful consideration should be directed to means of lowering the healthcare providers' risk of COVID-19 exposure during pediatric procedural sedation.