Comparison of perioperative caudal effectiveness of addition of clonidine to bupivacaine in pediatric patients undergoing infraumblical surgery

Pankaj Sarangal; Ruchi Gupta

Volume : V, Issue : VI, June - 2016

Comparison of perioperative caudal effectiveness of addition of clonidine to bupivacaine in pediatric patients undergoing infraumblical surgery

Pankaj Sarangal, Ruchi Gupta

Abstract :

 Background: Caudal block is a common technique for pediatric analgesia, but with the disadvantage of short duration of action after single injection of local anesthetics. Several adjuvants have been used to prolong the action of local anesthetics. We evaluated the efficacy of clonidine added to bupivacainein prolongi ng the analgesia produced by caudal bupivacaine in children undergoing infraumbilical surgery. Materials and methods: A study was conducted among 60 ASA I and II patients between age one to six years undergoing infraumblical surgery were randomly allocated to one of two groups to receive a caudal injection of either 1 ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine in normal saline (Group 1) or 1 ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine with 2 μg/kg of clonidine in normal saline (Group 2). Haemodynamic parameters were observed before, during and after the surgical procedure. Post–operative pain was assessed for 24 hours using the Modified Hanallah pain score and side effects were noted. Results: The mean duration of postop analgesia was significantly prolonged in Group 2 (p < 0.001). Also, children in Group 2 had statistically significant lower pain scores. Clonidine in a dose of 2ug/kg added to 0.25% bupivacaine for caudal analgesia, during infraumbilical surgery, prolongs the duration of analgesia of bupivacaine without any side effects.