• Dinesh K Choudhry, Larry Heredia, Bruce Randall Brenn, Melinda Brown, Norman F Carvalho, Milicent C Whaley, Sadiq S Shaik, Jennifer A Hagerty, and Ahmad Bani Hani.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA dchoudhry@shrinenet.org.
• Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2022 Dec 1; 47 (12): 744-748.

IntroductionCaudal block is frequently performed to provide analgesia for hypospadias repair. Literature suggests that pudendal block provides prolonged postoperative analgesia as compared with caudal block in children between 2 and 5 years. We compared the efficacy of pudendal and caudal blocks in children less than 2 years.Methods60 children scheduled for hypospadias repair received standard general anesthesia along with either pudendal or caudal block (groups of 30 each). Variables collected were demographic data, block time, operating room time, intraoperative pain medication need, pain assessment score and medication need in the recovery room and pain assessment at home.ResultGroups were demographically similar. No differences were observed in the following recorded times (minutes): block procedure (caudal: 9.5±4.0, pudendal: 10.6±4.1, p=0.30), anesthesia (caudal: 17.3±5.3, pudendal: 17.7±4.3, p=0.75), total OR (caudal: 171±35, pudendal: 172±41; p=0.95) and postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay (caudal: 88±37, pudendal: 86±42; p=0.80). Additionally, no differences were observed in rescue pain medication need in the operating room (caudal: 0, pudendal: 2 (p=0.49), in PACU (caudal: 4, pudendal: 4, p=0.99), pain assessed at home, time to pain level 2 (caudal: 13.93±8.9, pudendal: 15.17±8.7), average pain scores (p=0.67) and total pain free epochs (pain level of zero) (p=0.80) in the first 24 hours.DiscussionIn children less than 2 years, both blocks provide comparable intraoperative and postoperative pain relief in the first 24 hours after hypospadias surgery.Trial Registration NumberNCT03145415.© American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

21 keywords...

hide…