Comparative Evaluation of Clonidine as an Adjunct to Ropivacaine for Caudal Block Anaesthesia in Children Undergoing Sub-Umbilical Surgeries

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that clonidine can improve the duration of analgesia, quality of pain control when used with ropivacaine for caudal blocks in children. This study was designed to understand the effects of caudally administered ropivacaine 0.25 % (1ml/kg) alone and ropivacaine 0.25 % (1ml/kg) with clonidine 2 mcg/kg, in children between 2- 10 years. METHODS Sixty children posted for various sub-umbilical surgical procedures were included after written informed consent and ethics committee approval. Children were randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 each: Group R —ropivacaine 0.25 % 1 ml/kg into caudal epidural space and Group RC—ropivacaine 0.25 % 1 ml/kg and clonidine 2 mcg/kg into caudal epidural space. RESULTS The mean age of patients was similar with no statistical difference (4.83 vs 5.36, P = 0.3353). The duration of anaesthesia was significantly longer in the RC group (544.83 minutes vs 268.00 minutes, P < 0.0001). The effect size was very high (Cohen d=23.86). The pain score was comparable up to 1 hour for the two groups. But 2 hours later, the pain scores were significantly lower for the ropivacaine and clonidine groups. The effect on motor blockade was similar in both groups with no motor blockade at 4 hours follow up. 5 cases of urinary retention were seen in the study with no statistically significant difference in terms of complication rate between the two groups. No case of hypotension or bradycardia was seen. There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of cardiovascular parameters (HR, SBP, DBP) after administration of drugs. CONCLUSIONS The addition of clonidine to ropivacaine for caudal blocks in children was associated with better quality of pain control and a longer duration of analgesia without any additional motor blockade. There was no significant difference seen in terms of complication. KEY WORDS Analgesia Duration, Caudal Analgesia, Clonidine, Pain Control, Ropivacaine.

Intravenous Dexamethasone as an Adjuvant to Caudal Analgesia for Post Herniotomy Pain

Objective: To compare the outcomes of caudal block with or without intravenous dexamethasone in controlling post-herniotomy pain in pediatric population Patients and Methods: A total of 90 patients who underwent inguinal herniotomy were included in this prospective comparative study. The study was conducted in a tertiary care setup in Qatar from Jan-2020 to May-2021. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups. Group A (dexamethasone) patients received dexamethasone intravenous 0.25 mg/kg in 5 ml of distilled water, 10 minutes before surgery. Group B (control) received 5 ml of normal saline, 10 minutes before surgery. The patients were followed for up to 240 minutes after surgery to determine adequate pain relief. Results: Mean age of the children included in this study was 7.11±1.95 years. There were 46 (51.1%) female children and 44 (48.9%) male children. Adequate post-operative pain relief was achieved in 30 (33.33%) patients, while rescue analgesia was needed in remaining 60 (66.67%) patients. Adequate pain relief was achieved in 24 (53.3%) children in dexamethasone group and in only 06 (13.3%) children in control group (p-value 0.001). Conclusion: In children undergoing herniotomy, Intravenous 0.25 mg/Kg of dexamethasone when used as an adjunct to bupivacaine for caudal block significantly reduces post-operative pain. Keywords: Caudal Block, intravenous dexamethasone, Post-operative pain Relief.

A comparative study between Levobupivacaine alone and in combination with Dexmedetomidine in caudal analgesia of hernia repair in pediatrics

Background Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the pediatric population. Using optimal analgesic regimen provides safe and effective analgesia, reduce postoperative stress response and accelerate recovery from surgery. Aim of the Work to examine the effect of Dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to Levobupivacaine in caudal anesthesia, mainly its effect in enhancing and prolonging post-operative analgesia. Patients and Methods The study was conducted on 50 randomly chosen patients in Ain Shams University Hospitals after approval of the medical ethical committee. Patients were divided randomly into two groups, each group consisted of 25 patients. After preoperative assessment and obtaining baseline vital data, all patients received general anesthesia. Group A: Patients in this group received caudal anesthesia with Levobupivacaine 0.25% at a dose of 2 mg·kg−1 (0.8 ml·kg−1) before the beginning of the procedure. Group B: Patients in this group received Levobupivacaine 0.25% at a dose of 2 mg·kg−1 (0.8 ml·kg−1) in addition to Dexmedetomidine 1 μg·kg−1 in 1 ml normal saline before the beginning of the procedure. Results The results of the study revealed that there was significant reduction in FLACC score in group B at 4, 8, and 12 hours postoperatively compared to group A, at the twenty-fourth hour there was no significant difference. Regarding the duration of analgesia postoperatively we found statistically significant increase in group B compared to that in group A (p-value &lt;0.001). Regarding the number of doses of analgesia required post operatively (Paracetamol 15ml/kg/dose) there was a statistically significant decrease in patients requirement in group B compared to that in group A (p-value &lt;0.001). Conclusion Dexmedetomidine as adjuvant to Levobupivacaine provided significantly prolonged postoperative analgesia, reduced the postoperative analgesic requirements and better parents’ satisfaction as compared with caudal analgesia using Levobupivacaine alone in children undergoing hernia repair.

Postoperative Pain Management: Efficacy of Caudal Tramadol in Pediatric Lower Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Study

Background: One of the methods of pain control after pediatric surgical procedures is regional techniques, including caudal block, despite their limitations. Objectives: In this study, the pain score and complications of caudal tramadol were evaluated in pediatrics following lower abdominal surgery. Methods: In this study, 46 children aged 3 to 10 years were allocated into two equal groups (R and TR) for performing caudal analgesia after lower abdominal surgery. The injectate contained 0.2% ropivacaine 1 mL/kg in the R group (control group) and tramadol (2 mg/kg) and ropivacaine in the TR group. The pain score, duration of pain relief, amount of paracetamol consumption, hemodynamic alterations, and possible complications at specific times (1, 2, and 6 hours) were evaluated in both groups. Results: No considerable difference was observed in the pain score between the groups in the first and second hours (P > 0.05). However, in the sixth hour, the TR group had a significantly lower pain score than the R group (P < 0.05). Compared to the R group, the TR group had a longer period of analgesia and lower consumption of analgesic drugs (P < 0.05). Heart rate and blood pressure differences were not significant between the two groups (P > 0.05). Similarly, the duration of operation and recovery time were not remarkably different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Complications had no apparent differences between these two groups, as well (P > 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, the addition of tramadol to caudal ropivacaine in pediatric lower abdominal surgery promoted pain relief without complications.

Comparative analysis of caudal ropivacaine with clonidine vs ropivacaine alone with regards to hemodynamic changes, analgesic potency and side effects in children

Pain management is an essential component of care provided by pediatric anaesthesiologists. That specially holds true due to inability of this group of patients to report their overall experience of surgical procedures like adults. Caudal analgesia is one of the most popular regional anaesthetic techniques employed in children undergoing surgery for lower abdominal, urological, and lower limb operations. Of all the major advantages that this technique has, there is one major disadvantage of short duration of anesthesia. In children it is observed that combination of ropivacaine and clonidine administered caudally has shown to prolong the effects of analgesia. The present clinical study is therefore undertaken to compare caudal ropivacaine with clonidine and ropivacaine alone with regards to hemodynamic changes, analgesic potency and side effects in children. This study included 60 children of the age group 5-10 years ASA grade I and II, of either sex, coming for various elective infra-umbilical surgical procedures who were divided into two groups each comprising of 30 subjects. Group A received plain 0.20% Ropivacaine (1ml/kg) and Group B received 0.20%Ropivacaine (1ml/kg) with clonidine 1µg/kg and the effects were analysed on various parameters.In our study, we chose 0.20% ropivacaine which provides better quality of analgesia and clonidine 1.0μg/kg which prolongs the duration of analgesia significantly while avoiding the side effects like excessive sedation and bradycardia associated with higher doses. Other hemodynamic parameters did not differ significantly in both the groups.

Combination of Dexmedetomidine and Bupivacaine for Caudal Anesthesia In Children

Background: Caudal anesthesia is one of the most popular, reliable and safe methods of pain relief in children and can provide pain relief for various surgical procedures below the navel. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the caudal use of dexmedetomidine in caudal anesthesia in children. Methods: The subject of the study was 46 children with physical status I and II class of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), aged 0 to 12 years, who underwent elective surgeries below the navel, such as hernia repair, orchiopexy, hypospadias repair, epispadias, etc. Results: The duration of caudal analgesia was determined from the moment the anesthetic was injected until the moment the child first complained of pain or the time when the first postoperative analgesia was required. The average duration of postoperative caudal analgesia in patients of group A was 4.21 ± 0.88, while in patients of group B this duration was 10.18 ± 0.85 hours. Conclusions. Our results show that the addition of dexmedetomidine to the local anesthetic for caudal block significantly increases the duration of analgesia and reduces the need for analgesics. More data is also needed on the neurological safety of dexmedetomidine. Key words: dexmedetomidine,caudal block, bupivacaine.