Post-operative Pain Relief for Paediatric Inguinal-Scrotal Surgery
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2017-08-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Two methods of pain control in children undergoing surgery on the groin and scrotum are
caudal injection (a form of epidural) with local anaesthetic, and a regional nerve block (an
injection of local anaesthetic around the nerves supplying the area). A pilot study at our
hospital showed a significant decrease in post-operative pain and nausea and vomiting in
these two methods when compared to intravenous morphine and local anaesthetic to the wound.
One potential side effect from caudal injections is temporarily decreased motor power in the
legs due to the local anaesthetic - it is thought that this might be overcome using a more
dilute solution of local anaesthetic along with clonidine. This study is to demonstrate that
this method is as effective as the use of a regional nerve block.