Abstract

Caudal block is a simple, safe procedure with fewer side effects to provide intraoperative and postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients. Many drugs were used as an additive to local anesthetics in caudal block. All these drugs had their own side effects. Materials and Methods:After obtaining informed consent patients aged 1–10 year, planned for perineal surgery were randomly allocated according to computer-generated random number, into three groups. Group I - 0.25% levobupivacaine (1 mL.kg-1) alone, Group II - 0.25% levobupivacaine (1 mL.kg- 1) with tramadol 1 mL.kg-1, and Group III - 0.25% levobupivacaine (1 mL.kg-1) with clonidine 1 μg.kg-1. Perioperative pain was the primary outcome. Hemodynamic parameters: heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and peripheral oxygen saturation were recorded. Postoperative pain assessed by Children and Infants Postoperative Pain Scale (CHIPPS), sedation by Ramsay seda- tion score and requirement of rescue analgesia were recorded at predetermined time intervals. Results:Postoperative analgesic effect was significantly longer in levobupivacaine with clonidine group as compared to tramadol with levobupivacaine group and levobupivacaine alone group. Conclusion:Clonidine in a dose of 1 μg.kg-1 when added to levobupivacaine in caudal block significantly prolongs the duration of analgesia as compared to tramadol with levobupivacaine and levobupivacaine alone without any clinically significant side effects. Thus, it is better to add additive like clonidine to enhance the effect of analgesia

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