Dexmedetomidine enhances the efficacy of 0.25% ropivacaine for postoperative analgesia in pediatric caudal epidurals

  • Kavita Jain Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
  • Surendra Kumar Sethi Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
  • Sohan Lal Yadav Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
  • Veena Mathur Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
  • Beena Thada Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
  • Deepak Garg Department of Anesthesiology, Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Medical College & Hospital, JLN Medical College Circle, Near Kala Bagh, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305001, India
Keywords: Caudal epidural, Ropivacaine, Dexmedetomidine, Postoperative analgesia, Pediatric, Rescue analgesic

Abstract

Background & Objectives: Caudal epidural block is one of the safe, reliable and effective technique in pediatric patients but single shot caudal epidural block has short duration of analgesia that can be prolonged by addition of adjuvants like opioids, clonidine, neostigmine, ketamine orαagonists along with local anesthetic agents. This prospective randomized study was conducted to assess the efficacy of addition of dexmedetomidine (1µg/kg) to caudal 0.25% ropivacaine (1ml/kg) for postoperative analgesia.
Methodology: Sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists grade I and II pediatric patients aged 6 months to 6 years were randomly allocated into two groups with 30 patients in each group: Group R (n = 30) received caudal 0.25% ropivacaine 1 ml/kg and normal saline (0.5 ml) while Group RD received caudal 0.25% ropivacaine 1 ml/kg + dexmedetomidine 1 μg/kg (0.5 ml). Postoperative pain (FLACC pain score), duration of analgesia, rescue analgesic requirement, postoperative sedation scores, and hemodynamic changes along with complications were recorded.

Published
01-18-2019
How to Cite
Jain, K., Sethi, S. K., Yadav, S. L., Mathur, V., Thada, B., & Garg, D. (2019). Dexmedetomidine enhances the efficacy of 0.25% ropivacaine for postoperative analgesia in pediatric caudal epidurals. Anaesthesia, Pain & Intensive Care, 22(2), 199-206. Retrieved from https://apicareonline.com/index.php/APIC/article/view/48
Section
Original Articles