BACKGROUND Melatonin may offer a safe and cheap alternative to general anaesthesia and sedatives in neuropaediatric MRI. The purpose of our study was to evaluate its efficacy during a daily scanning programme and to assess its financial benefit. METHODS Neuro-MRI scans, performed in a general hospital setting after administration of melatonin in 64 children aged 10 months-5 years, were retrospectively reassessed by an experienced paediatric neuroradiologist, rating them as diagnostically contributing or as failed. The financial benefit was calculated. RESULTS 49/64 scans (77%) were diagnostically contributing, in 11 (22%) no movement artefact was seen in any sequence; 15/64 scans failed (23%), in 3/15 because of serious movement artefacts, in 12/15 the scan was not started. Repeat scans under general anaesthesia were performed in 17 cases (27%): in the 15 failed cases and in 2 cases initially assessed as failed, but were considered diagnostically contributing in the present study. The financial benefit at the time the scans were made was approximately 13,360 Euro. CONCLUSIONS In this retrospective study, the use of melatonin in neuropaediatric MRI, made during a daily scanning programme with a remote waiting room, was associated with a high success rate in infants and young children. A minority of scans had no movement artefacts, indicating most children were not asleep. The sleep-inducing effect of melatonin could therefore not be proven, but the high success rate may be attributed to the sedative and/or anxiolytic effect of melatonin. Only a minority of scans had to be repeated under general anesthesia, leading to a reduction of scan related costs.

中文翻译：

---

神经儿科 MRI 中的褪黑激素：综合医院环境中疗效的回顾性研究

背景褪黑激素可在神经儿科MRI中提供一种安全且廉价的全身麻醉和镇静剂替代品。我们研究的目的是评估其在日常扫描计划中的功效并评估其经济利益。方法 对 64 名 10 个月至 5 岁儿童服用褪黑激素后，在综合医院环境中进行的神经 MRI 扫描由一位经验丰富的儿科神经放射科医生进行回顾性重新评估，将他们评定为对诊断有贡献或失败。计算了财务收益。结果 49/64 次扫描 (77%) 具有诊断意义，其中 11 次 (22%) 在任何序列中均未发现运动伪影；15/64 次扫描失败 (23%)，3/15 次由于严重的运动伪影，12/15 次未开始扫描。17 例 (27%) 在全身麻醉下进行了重复扫描：在 15 个失败的案例中，在 2 个最初评估为失败的案例中，但在本研究中被认为对诊断有贡献。进行扫描时的经济收益约为 13,360 欧元。结论 在这项回顾性研究中，在远程候诊室的日常扫描程序中使用褪黑激素在神经儿科 MRI 中的使用与婴儿和幼儿的高成功率相关。少数扫描没有运动伪影，表明大多数孩子没有睡着。因此，无法证明褪黑激素的睡眠诱导作用，但高成功率可能归因于褪黑激素的镇静和/或抗焦虑作用。只有少数扫描必须在全身麻醉下重复，从而降低了扫描相关成本。