Super Sedation project welcomes its 100th patient to celebrate its reduction in time spent in hospital
If you haven’t already heard the news, our Super Sedation Method, which began in 2021 to reduce waiting lists for audiology testing, has seen its 100th patient today, who has benefitted from the service. 
The Super Sedation technique involves using a quicker alternative administration of sedatives – rather than a general anaesthetic that these children would have traditionally had. Children aged 1-8 years can now use the ‘Super Sedation nasal and mouth spray’ to reduce discomfort and anxiety.
The new and effective deep sedation method has reduced the length of stay time from six hours to four hours and has become an enhanced approach to treating neurodivergent and non-verbal children who would have had to have a general anaesthetic before this method was practised for their hearing test.
The intranasal dexmedetomidine spray and oral midazolam spray are tolerated better than swallowing a large volume of oral medication, as the method is fast and simple, to allow a deep sedated sleep for painless hearing testing, we have had a 100% success rate with this method.
Jack Hayward, Deputy Ward Manager at our Medical Day Care said: “The project succession has allowed us to reduce waiting times and lists for our patients, allowing children to be seen at a quicker rate, as well as helping to keep them comfortable during their visit with us.
“The nasal and mouth spray has been a real help in creating deep sedation for children with sensory issues including those with autism and those nonverbal, to help rule out or diagnose a degree of hearing loss, we have stopped 100 children having a general anaesthetic by using this method of deep sedation in a ward environment rather than in the operating room.
“It is hoped it can be used for other painless diagnostic tests in future development such as diagnostic imaging”
We would like to say a big thank you to our Medical Day Care Team, Anaesthetics, Pre-admissions, Audiology and Pharmacy teams for their combined efforts to support our children and young people through the Super Sedation project.