This is a chart review. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and side effects of very low dose morphine administered caudally to children that went to surgical procedures that used caudal anesthesia. The study compares caudal block with Bupivacaine (1 ml kg\_1 of bupivacaine 0.25% and saline 0.02 ml kg\_10) with very low dose morphine (a mix of 1 ml kg\_-1 of ropivacaine 0.2% and preservative-free morphine: 10 µg kg-1).
Caudal anesthesia is the most common technique of epidural anesthesia in children. Caudal anesthesia is recommended for most surgical procedures of the lower part of the body, including herniorrhaphies; operations on the urinary tract, anus, and rectum; and orthopedic procedures on the pelvic girdle and lower extremities. Many anesthetic agents have been used for caudal anesthesia in pediatric patients, with lidocaine and Bupivacaine being most common. The major problems associated with this technique are the limited duration of analgesia and unwanted motor blockade. Addition of medications that prolong analgesia after a single shot caudal block has been investigated. Several authors have mentioned a special interest in using an opioid like morphine in caudal block for postoperative analgesia. When low dose morphine is used, the side effects are lower than when higher dose of morphine are used. A larger and definitive study is needed to compare very low dose morphine via caudal administration and caudal block without Opioid with regard to duration of analgesia and frequency of side effects. We plan to conduct a chart review in our center on pediatric patients that went to urological, orthopedic, and general surgery procedures for which caudal block were given and compare the effectiveness and side effects of very low dose morphine and caudal block without Opioid.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
33
Chart review of patients that received very low dose morphine administered caudally (M) and plain caudal block with Ropivacaine or Marcaine (B)from October 2008 to October 2009.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Deparment of Anesthesiology
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
The study's primary research question, which relates to between-group differences is duration of analgesia.
Time frame: 1 year 5 months
Between-group differences in the proportion of patients clinically significant side effects will be assessed.
Time frame: 1 year 5 months
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