Erector spinae plane block versus caudal block for postoperative analgesia in pediatric patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Erector spinae plane block is a promising strategy for pain management in some settings. However, the effectiveness of erector spinae plane block versus caudal block in pediatric inguinal hernia repair has yet to be formally investigated.

METHODS: One hundred and two patients aged 2-5 years undergoing unilateral open inguinal hernia repair randomly received unilateral erector spinae plane block (0.2% ropivacaine 0.5 mL kg-1 ), caudal block (0.2% ropivacaine 1 mL kg-1 ), or no block. The primary outcome was time to the first rescue analgesia, defined as the interval from the end of surgery to the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability scale greater than three. Secondary outcomes included the number of patients requiring rescue analgesia, the area under the curve of pain scores over time, satisfaction of guardians, and adverse events.

RESULTS: The median time to the first rescue analgesia was longer in the erector spinae plane block group than in the caudal block group [10.0 h (interquartile range, 6.6-24.0 h) vs. 5.0 h (interquartile range, 2.9-7.3 h); p  < .001]. The Cox regression model demonstrated that the risk of postoperative rescue analgesia requirement was 0.38 in children receiving erector spinae plane block compared with caudal block (95% confidence interval 0.23-0.64; p  < .001). Additionally, the area under the curve of the pain scores over time was lower in the erector spinae plane block group than in the caudal block group (44.3 [36.6-50.7] vs. 59.0 [47.1-64.5]; p  < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: Erector spinae plane block provided superior postoperative analgesia compared to caudal block in children undergoing inguinal hernia repair. Trial registration : Chinese Clinical Trial Registry; ChiCTR2100048303.