Transversus Abdominis Plane Block for Pain Relieve in Children Undergoing Inguinal Surgical Procedures: How Does it Compare With the "Gold Standard" Caudal Blockade

Caudal block (CB) is the gold standard technique for analgesia in children undergoing surgical interventions in the groin.

Although the efficacy and the safety of this technique is high, nonetheless, there are several caveats such as unwarranted motor blockade of the lower limbs and disturbances of the bladder function, potentially resulting in delayed demission in the ambulatory setting. The effect of the blockade wears off within 4-5h post-block, making the administration of additional pain medication necessary.

Peripheral nerve blockades (PNB) are an alternative to CB and have a prolonged duration of the analgesic effect. More recently, an alternative method to block neural structures which innervate lower abdominal wall has been described; the transverse abdominal plane block. The ultrasound guided technique improves the safety of margin. However, although this new technique seems to offer substantial advantages so far only experience from small case series are available. In particular, the TAP block has not been compared in a systematic trial with the "gold standard", the caudal block.