Practice Advisory on Anesthetic Care for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A Report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Anesthetic Care for Magnetic Resonance Imaging*

PRACTICE advisories are systematically developed reports that are intended to assist decision making in areas of patient care. Advisories are based on a synthesis of scientific literature and analysis of expert and practitioner opinion, clinical feasibility data, open forum commentary, and consensus surveys. Advisories developed by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) are not intended as standards, guidelines, or absolute requirements. They may be adopted, modified, or rejected according to clinical needs and constraints.

The use of practice advisories cannot guarantee any specific outcome. Practice advisories summarize the state of the literature, and report opinions obtained from expert consultants and ASA members. Practice advisories are not supported by scientific literature to the same degree as standards or guidelines because of the lack of sufficient numbers of adequately controlled studies. Practice advisories are subject to periodic revision as warranted by the evolution of medical knowledge, technology, and practice.