To the Editor.

Parker et al¹ describe the efficacy and safety of intravenous midazolam and ketamine for sedating children undergoing therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. The authors are to be congratulated for attempting to make the sedation process safer for children undergoing painful and nonpainful diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. We have specific concerns, however, about the way this document was written. In the abstract, the authors state that this dissociative anesthetic was used to provide "conscious sedation." "Conscious sedation" implies that the patient is conscious, ie, in contact with their environment and responds appropriately to verbal commands and physical stimulation. This does not mean reflex withdrawal to pain, but rather an appropriate response to a painful stimulus such as saying "ouch" or pushing . . . [Full Text of this Article]