Infra-orbital Nerve Block for Post Operative Analgesia in Young Children Undergoing Pediatric Cleft Lip Surgery.

Oro-facial clefts are the most prevalent craniofacial birth defects and the second most common birth anomaly, second only to clubfoot [Strong & Buckmiller 2001]. Cleft lip surgery is associated with appreciable postoperative pain in children Alleviation of postoperative pain is important in these patients. The fear of respiratory depression using opioids has renewed the interest in regional anesthesia to provide safe and effective postoperative analgesia. Infra-orbital nerve block has been advocated as a suitable local analgesic technique for cleft lip surgery and superficial surgery on the mid face [Morton 2004, Takmaz et al. 2009, Rajesh et al. 2011, Jindal et al. 2011].The infra-orbital nerve supplies the upper lip, lower eyelid, and adjacent skin of the cheek and nose. Unilateral or bilateral infra-orbital nerve block has been performed with a very high success rate.

The investigators designed this study to evaluate the safety and analgesic efficacy of adding ketamine to bupivacaine in bilateral infra-orbital nerve block for relief of pain postoperatively following repair of cleft lip in children less than two years of age.