Sometimes a child requires oxygen, usually with a small tube placed under the nose or a mask. Sometimes a child is congested or coughing and the back of the throat or the nose will be cleaned by suction through a small mouth tube. Sometimes a child's windpipe relaxes or they snore and a plastic piece called an airway is placed in the mouth to pull the tongue forward and open up the throat. Very rarely a child will actually stop breathing. In this case, your child will be helped to breathe with a bag and mask or, rarely, with a tube into the airway.
Some children react in the opposite way to sedation.
Instead of falling asleep easily, they begin to thrash and kick and cry. Most children do not do this, but you should be prepared for this in case your child responds this way. If this happens, the test may be canceled and you will need to bring your child back another day for the test to be done with a different sedation medicine. Most often when children respond this way, they are able to get to sleep. In this case, they often wake up the same way.