Analgesic Efficacy of Ultrasound Guided Sacral Erector Spinae Plane Block Versus Caudal Block in Pediatric Anorectal Surgery

Regional anesthesia in children has become increasingly popular over the past few decades. A variety of peripheral and central nerve blocks have been developed to ensure that perioperative pain can be effectively controlled. So, it possible to reduce the dose concentrations of systemic drugs and improved hemodynamic stability in high-risk patients. Erector spinae plane (ESP) block with various approaches been used in many surgeries and obtained great popularity despite of its novelty. After first description; lower thoracic, lumbar and sacral approaches were defined for postoperative analgesia. There are a few cases in which sacral ESP block was administered and reported.

The aim of this study is to compare postoperative analgesic effect of ultrasound guided sacral ESP block and caudal block. It is hypothesized that sacral ESP block will be comparable to caudal block as a promising effective alternative for analgesia in patients who will undergo pediatric anorectal surgery with fewer side effects.

This prospective, randomized, comparative clinical study will include 60 children who will be scheduled for elective anorectal surgery under general anesthesia in Mansoura university hospitals. Informed written consent will be obtained from parents of all subjects in the study after ensuring confidentiality. The study protocol will be explained to parents of all patients in the study who will be kept fasting prior to surgery. Patients will be randomly assigned to two equal groups (ESP and caudal) according to computer-generated table of random numbers using the permuted block randomization method. The collected data will be coded, processed, and analyzed using SPSS program. All data will be considered statistically significant if P value is ≤ 0.05.