Comparison of post-operative analgesia with caudal Ropivacaine and Levobupivacaine in pediatric patients undergoing infraumbilical surgery under general anaesthesia

Abstract

Post-operative pain relief following pediatric abdominal surgery is of paramount consideration and caudal block is still a popular, easy as well as safe analgesic technique for effective analgesia in children. With the advent of newer local anaesthetics, there has been a renewed interest in pediatric caudal blocks after lower abdominal surgeries following general anaesthesia. The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy and duration of postoperative analgesia using caudal Ropivacaine and Levobupivacaine in pediatric patients undergoing infraumbilical surgery under general anaesthesia.: The study was conducted on sixty, ASA grade 1, pediatric patients of age 2 to 6 years, of either sex, posted for elective infraumbilical surgery under general anaesthesia. They were randomly divided in two groups of 30 patients each. Group 1: - (n = 30) received caudal block with injection Ropivacaine, 0.25%, 1ml/kg. Group 2: - (n = 30) received caudal block with injection Levobupivacaine, 0.25%, 1ml/kg. Comparative, randomized, single blinded, observational study. : The demographic data was comparable in both the groups. Postoperatively, the quality of analgesia was assessed by the MOP (Modified Objective Pain Scale) score. Duration of postoperative analgesia was assessed by noting the time of giving rescue analgesia in the post-operative period. We also noted side effects, if any in both the groups. The quality of analgesia was found to be similar with both the drug groups (p value >0.05). The duration of analgesia was longer and statistically significant (p value = 0.0006) in the Ropivacaine group (8.43 ± 0.77 hours) as compared to the Levobupivacaine group (7.03 ± 2.03 hours). Statistically significant difference (P value = 0.026) was seen in the requirement rescue analgesia between Ropivacaine (3.33%) and Levobupivacaine (26.67%) groups. There were no major side effects in either of the groups, apart from a single patient out of 30 patients of Levobupivacaine group who had vomiting, compared with none in the Ropivacaine group.We conclude that caudal block with 0.25% Ropivacaine has a longer duration of action as compared to 0.25% Levobupivacaine in children undergoing infraumbilical surgery under general anaesthesia. Both Ropivacaine and Levobupivacaine, have similar quality of postoperative analgesia and side effect profile.