---
title: A Pilot Study to Assess the Amnesic Properties of Dexmedetomidine in Pediatric Patients
nct_id: NCT02354378
overall_status: COMPLETED
sponsor: "Boston Children's Hospital"
study_type: OBSERVATIONAL
primary_condition: Memory
countries: United States
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT02354378.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02354378"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2019-02-28
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T07:33:13.585Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# A Pilot Study to Assess the Amnesic Properties of Dexmedetomidine in Pediatric Patients

**NCT ID:** [NCT02354378](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02354378)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** COMPLETED
- **Study Type:** OBSERVATIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 84
- **Lead Sponsor:** Boston Children's Hospital
- **Collaborators:** Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- **Conditions:** Memory, Dexmedetomidine
- **Start Date:** 2012-08
- **Completion Date:** 2015-03
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2019-02-28

## Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to determine the effects of dexmedetomidine on memory and recall of children who are receiving dexmedetomidine sedation administered for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. Dexmedetomidine is currently the standard drug for sedation for diagnostic (MRI, computerized tomography (CT) and Nuclear Medicine) radiological studies at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH). The effect of dexmedetomidine on memory and recall in children has not been studied.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 4 Years
- **Maximum age:** 14 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** No

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* The patient must be between 4 and 14 yrs of age and be undergoing a therapeutic or diagnostic procedure with or without sedation
* The patient must be able to comprehend and perform the task (naming pictures)
* The patient must have a minimum weight of 8 kg

Exclusion Criteria:

* Allergy to Dexmedetomidine (for those patients requiring sedation)
* Procedure of short duration (\< 15 min)
* Pregnancy
* Recent use (within 5 half-lives) of centrally acting medications that could affect concentration (e.g. diphenhydramine)
```

## Arms

- **Children undergoing sedation with Dexmedetomidine** — Children who will undergo sedation for MRI will be given a memory encoding task during dexmedetomidine bolus induction to measure the effects of sedation. The mere task of naming a picture will encode that picture into memory. When the anesthesia has worn off (at approximately 1 hour later), children will be given a memory recognition task to measure the amnesic effects of dexmedetomidine.
- **Children not undergoing sedation** — A control group of children of similar age scheduled for MRI will be recruited to perform memory recognition testing.

## Interventions

- **Dexmedetomidine** (DRUG)
- **Memory Test** (OTHER)

## Primary Outcomes

- **Sedation Threshold** _(time frame: Until the child has reviewed cards and is under sedation or for the control group has reviewed 100 cards)_ — During the 10-minute bolus infusion of Dexmedetomidine, children will be presented with pictures at 5-second intervals and asked to name the picture. They will be asked to name each picture (e.g., cat, tree, pencil, etc.). A valid response is naming of the picture within 5 seconds, either correctly or incorrectly.The important response measure is whether the child is awake enough to perform the naming task.

## Secondary Outcomes

- **Memory Threshold** _(time frame: Until 100 cards have been presented to the child. Approx. 10 minutes.)_

## Locations (1)

- Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.maxAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.secondary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.collaborators` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.boston children's hospital|boston|massachusetts|united states` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT02354378.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02354378*  
*This page is a raw mirror with no AI summary, no editorial enrichment, and no Parkinson's-specific filtering.*