ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: Infants and children undergo a variety of groin procedures that can cause a significant degree ofdiscomfort postoperatively. We aim to compare the caudal block and ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric block using the combination ofropivacaine and dexmedetomidine with regard to efficacy, quality, and duration of post-operative analgesia.Methods: This study included two groups and 60 patients of the age group of 3–12 years. After induction of anesthesia, GroupAreceived caudal block using 1 ml/kg 0.2% ropivacaine + dexmedetomidine 0.3 μg/kg up to maximum of 20 ml. Group B receivednerve locator guided ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric block using 0.75 ml/kg 0.2% ropivacaine + dexmedetomidine 0.3 μg/kg up tomaximum of 20 ml. Postoperatively, patients were monitored for up to 24 h for primary objective of measurement of pain score,duration of analgesia, and number of rescue analgesia required. Statistical analysis performed using independent t-test andChi-square test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The highest pain score in Group A was 5.93 ± 1.53 and in Group B was 4.93 ± 1.64 (P < 0.05). The average durationof analgesia in Group A and Group B was 372 min and 680 min, respectively (P < 0.05). The mean number of rescue analgesiagiven in Group A was 1.47 and in Group B was 0.96 (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Both caudal block and ilioinguinal block are effective measure of post-operative pain relief in pediatric inguinalsurgeries, but ilioinguinal block is better in terms of efficacy, duration of analgesia, lesser dose of local anesthetic required, andlesser need of rescue analgesia required.