Comparison of caudal tramadol versus caudal fentanyl with bupivacaine for prolongation of postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients

Introduction: Caudal block is one of the most popular and commonly used regional anaesthetic procedures in paediatric patients for most surgeries below the umbilicus. Because of the short duration of analgesia with bupivacaine alone various additive have been used to prolong the action of bupivacaine. Aim: The present study was aimed to evaluate the analgesic effect of tramadol or fentanyl added to bupivacaine for infraumblical surgeries in pediatric patients. Materials and methods: It was a prospective study, 80 patients randomly selected belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status I-II, in the age group of 1-12 years, of either sex undergoing infraumblical surgery under general anesthesia were divided into two groups. Group BT received 1 ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine with tramadol 2 mg/kg in normal saline and Group BF received 1 ml/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine with fentanyl 2 mg/kg in normal saline with maximum volume of 12 ml in both groups. All patients were assessed intraoperatively for hemodynamic changes, pain score and sedation score. Results: The mean duration of analgesia was 10-18 h in Group BT while in Group BF it was 7-11 h. The postoperatively period up to 10 h, Group BF had higher sedation score up to two as compared to that below one on Group BT. Conclusion: Caudal tramadol compared to caudal fentanyl significantly prolongs the duration of analgesia without any side effects.