President’s Message
President’s Message: Focus on Exciting Society InitiativesBy Anne Stormorken, MD

Every day brings new things it seems, some unwelcome, but hopefully more that are rewarding and gratifying. In this missive I would like to provide a positive focus by highlighting upcoming SPS events. The Society for Pediatric Sedation is excited to provide the first ever virtual conference exclusively dedicated to pediatric sedation. Providing an environment to draw our close-knit international community even closer galvanized our conference … [Read More...]
Don’t Miss This Spooktacular Event!

Virtual sessions for Saturday and Sunday have been scheduled to allow plenty of time for your Halloween festivities. Busy that weekend? Register by November 1 and you can still view the recorded sessions for CME/CE up to 30 days after the event. Topics Include: The impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Procedural Sedation Sedation for Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Therapy Simulation-based Training in Medical Education Evolution of the … [Read More...]
Committee Updates
New SPS Member Benefit – MOC Part 4By Sue Kost, MD
Chair, MOC Subcommittee
Chair, MOC Subcommittee

As demonstrated by our SPS mission statement, “high quality care” and quality improvement (QI) has been a focus of our society since its inception. In this light, we are planning to offer a new member benefit to assist our members who participate in the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Although the SPS is not an American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Portfolio Sponsor, we can help your team or you as an in … [Read More...]
General Articles
How Do You Do It? Exploring VCUG’s in Two Programs
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at Virtua Voorhees Katherine Friend, CCLS Sedation planning: Who receives sedation? Ultimately the decision is collaborative between the parents, NP, RN, and CCLS. Who doesn’t? Most children under 1 year do not receive sedation. Anyone on the team (or the parents) may advocate for a non-sedate appr … [Read More...]
Perspectives of SPS Members in Advancing Pediatric Sedation CareBy Nancy Crego, PhD, RN, CCRN
Among the many benefits of the SPS, I find that the different perspectives, experiences, knowledge and insights that are shared by its members are among the most valuable to me. These perspectives come from the various professional, educational and geographic differences we share within our common interest in providing high quality and safe … [Read More...]
Safety and Efficacy of the Combination of Propofol and Ketamine for Procedural Sedation/Anesthesia in the Pediatric Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysisReviewed by Ali Ozcan, MD
Hayes J.A. et al. Published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 7. Anesth Analg. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32665470/ The numbers of procedural sedation for medical procedures in children have increased during the past decade, facilitating procedures such as lumbar punctures, fracture reductions, and upper gastrointestinal tract … [Read More...]
NPO for the Love…Let them drink!By Benjamin F. Jackson, MD
An update on pre-procedural fasting and pediatric procedural sedation Among the more commonly recurring discussions and controversies in the realm of pediatric procedural sedation (PPS) surrounds the provision of sedation and its relationship to timing of a patient’s most recent oral intake. While PPS care remains one of the strongest examples of m … [Read More...]
2020 SPS Awards and Grant Recipients

The SPS Award nomination process will open in early 2021. Start thinking of a worthy colleague to nominate! Blike/Cravero International Pediatric Sedation Advocacy Award Vivian Yuen, MD Dr. Yuen is an anesthesiologist at the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, and an Honorary Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Hong Kong. She ha … [Read More...]
Creating New Metrics for Enhanced Sedation Quality ImprovementBy Amber Rogers, MD
Chair, Quality and Safety Committee
Chair, Quality and Safety Committee
In a new subcommittee collaboration between the SPS Research and Quality & Safety Committees, dedicated SPS members will be harnessing the resources of the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium (PSRC) to take sedation quality analyses and metrics to the next level. Historically, quality sedation has been almost exclusively defined by … [Read More...]