Caudal-epidural bupivacaine versus ropivacaine with fentanyl for paediatric postoperative analgesia.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Caudal-epidural, the most commonly used regional analgesia technique, is virtually free of measurable hemodynamic effects, thus adding a new dimension to the evolving necessity of pediatric postoperative pain management. Though, bupivacaine is the most commonly used drug for this purpose, ropivacaine has emerged as a safer alternative, with the addition of opioids, like fentanyl, increasing the effective duration of analgesia. With this overview, our present study was designed to compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of bupivacaine-fentanyl and ropivacaine-fentanyl combinations by caudal-epidural technique in pediatric infraumbilical surgeries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Totally, 60 pediatric patients, of either sex, aged between 2 and 8 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II, undergoing elective infraumbilical surgeries were assigned into two groups, Group BF receiving bupivacaine 0.25%, 0.7 ml/kg and Group RF receiving ropivacaine 0.25%, 0.7 ml/kg with fentanyl 1 µg/kg added to each group. Assessment of pain was done using "Hannallah pain scale." Consumption of the total amount of rescue analgesic and time to requirement of the first dose, as also duration of motor blockade were noted. Perioperative hemodynamics and any adverse effects were monitored at regular intervals. RESULTS: The RF Group experienced significantly longer duration of effective postoperative analgesia, with significantly shorter duration of motor blockade and lesser total analgesic requirement in comparison to the BF Group. Hemodynamically, patients in both the groups, were equally stable. CONCLUSION: Ropivacaine, with an equipotent analgesic efficacy and a lesser duration of motor block, can be used as an alternative to bupivacaine for pediatric postoperative pain care through the caudal route.

Anaesthetic management in a case of huge plunging ranula.

Plunging ranula is a rare form of mucous retention cyst arising from submandibular and sublingual salivary glands, which may occasionally become huge occupying the whole of the floor of the mouth and extending into the neck, thus, restricting the neck movement as well as disfiguring the normal airway anatomy. Without fiberoptic assistance, blind or retrograde nasal intubation remains valuable choices in this type of situation. Here, we present a case of successful management of airway by blind nasal intubation in a patient posted for excision of a huge plunging ranula.

Successful emergency airway management in a case of removal of foreign body bronchus in a pediatric patient.

Foreign body (FB) aspiration into the respiratory tract is a common incident, especially in the pediatric age group and can, sometimes, pose a real challenge to the anesthesiologists as far as the airway management is concerned. Here, we report a case of FB bronchus in a 3 year 2 months old boy, presenting to the emergency in a cyanosed and comatosed condition with severe respiratory distress. In spite of the unavailability of a pediatric fiberoptic bronchoscope in our hand, the gradual declining condition of the baby made us to take the challenge. The FB was successfully removed through a tracheotome using a nasal endoscope.

Effects of intrathecal hyperbaric ropivacaine versus hyperbaric bupivacaine for lower limb orthopedic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Regional anesthesia, increasingly used for infraumbilical surgery, has advantages of decreased stress response to surgery, nausea, vomiting, and cardio-respiratory depression with improved postoperative analgesia, in comparison to general anesthesia. Intrathecal isobaric ropivacaine (RP) had been found, in various clinical studies, to be shorter acting in comparison to bupivacaine (BP). Our present study was, hence, aimed to compare the anesthetic and analgesic efficacy of intrathecal hyperbaric RP relative to hyperbaric BP in lower limb orthopedic surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 patients aged ranges between 18 and 60 years of either sex, ASAPS 1 and 2, undergoing elective lower limb orthopedic surgeries were divided into two groups, RP group and BP group receiving intrathecal 0.75% RP 3 ml and glucose 50%, 0.5 ml and 0.5% hyperbaric BP 3 ml and 0.9% normal saline 0.5 ml, respectively. The efficacy in terms of onset and duration of anesthesia and analgesia were assessed along with the heart rate, blood pressure at regular intervals throughout the perioperative period. RESULT: The two study groups were comparable in terms of demography and duration of surgery. Patients in group RP experienced significantly late onset and shorter duration of sensory and motor block in comparison to patients in group BP. There were clinically insignificant differences in perioperative hemodynamics and side-effects noted in each group. Hence, it was observed in this study that equipotent dose of hyperbaric RP had shorter duration of analgesia and anesthesia than with equipotent dose of hyperbaric BP.