European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

EVALUATION OF POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA FOR PAEDIATRIC INFRAUMBILICAL SURGERIES IN CAUDAL BLOCK USING CLONIDINE AS AN ADJUVANT TO BUPIVACAINE

Dr. Sudhakar Dwivedi, Dr. Subhash Kumar Agrawal*, and Dr. Avtar Singh Yadav

ABSTRACT

Caudal epidural is practised in paediatric anaesthesia with the aim of providing postoperative analgesia. The aim was to determine qualitative and quantitative aspects of caudal block, haemodynamic effects, and post-operative pain relief of ropivacaine 0.25% versus ropivacaine 0.25% with clonidine for lower abdominal surgeries in paediatric patients. The study was conducted on 60 paediatric ASA grade I and II patients of age group 1-6 years of either sex scheduled for elective infra-umbilical surgeries. Group A (control group) (n=30) received 0.25% Ropivacaine hydrochloride (1ml/kg) B.W. and Group B (n=30) received 0.25% Ropivacaine hydrochloride (1ml/kg) along with inj. Clonidine hydrochloride 1μg/kg B.W. The caudal block was administered with ropivacaine 0.25% (Group I) and ropivacaine 0.25% and clonidine 1 μg/kg (Group II) after induction with general anaesthesia. Haemodynamic parameters were observed before, during and after the surgical procedure. Post-operative analgesic duration, total dose of rescue analgesia, pain scores and any side effects were looked for and recorded. All the results were tabulated and analysed statistically. The variables in the two groups were compared using the non-parametric tests. For all statistical analyses, the level of significance was P < 0.05. The duration of analgesia was significantly prolonged in Group II (P<0.05). The dose requirement for post-operative pain relief was also significantly lesser in Group II. The incidences of side effects were almost comparable and no significant. A caudal block with 0.25% of isobaric ropivacaine combined with 1 μg/kg of clonidine provides efficient analgesia intra-operatively and prolonged duration of analgesia post-operatively.

Keywords: Caudal block, Ropivacaine, Clonidine.