Ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block, caudal analgesia, or surgical site infiltration for pediatric umbilical herniorrhaphy: a prospective, double-blinded, randomized comparison of three regional anesthetic techniques

Abstract

Lance M Relland,1,2 Joseph D Tobias,1–3 David Martin,1,2 Giorgio Veneziano,1,2 Ralph J Beltran,1,2 Christopher McKee,1,2 Tarun Bhalla1,2 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 2Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 3Department of Pediatrics, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA Background: Umbilical hernia repair is a common pediatric surgical procedure. While opioid analgesics are a feasible option and have long been a mainstay in the pharmacological intervention for pain, the effort to improve care and limit opioid-related adverse effects has led to the use of alternative techniques, including regional anesthesia. The current study prospectively compares the analgesic efficacy of three techniques, including caudal epidural blockade, peripheral nerve blockade, and local wound infiltration, in a double-blinded study.Patients and methods: A total of 39 patients undergoing umbilical hernia repair were randomized to receive a caudal epidural block (CDL), ultrasound-guided bilateral rectus sheath blocks (RSB), or surgical site infiltration (SSI) with local anesthetic. Intraoperative anesthetic care was standardized, and treatment groups were otherwise blinded from the intraoperative anesthesiology team and recovery nurses. Postoperatively, the efficacy was evaluated using Hannallah pain scores, Aldrete recovery scores, the need for intravenous fentanyl, and the time to discharge.Results: Each cohort was similar in terms of age, weight, premedication dosing, length of case, intraoperative and postoperative fentanyl requirements, and time to tracheal extubation. Among the three cohorts, there were no significant differences noted in terms of pain scores or time to recovery.Conclusion: All the three techniques provided effective analgesia following umbilical hernia repair. Our findings offer effective and safe analgesic options as alternatives to the neuraxial (caudal) approach. Keywords: caudal, pediatric, rectus sheath, regional anesthesia, umbilical hernia 

Keywords

• caudal
• pediatric
• rectus sheath
• regional anesthesia
• umbilical hernia