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Effects of low-dose intravenous dexamethasone combined with caudal analgesia on post-herniotomy pain

Background: Caudal analgesia for postoperative pain relief in paediatric day-case surgery has been found to be of short duration, hence the need for addition of adjuncts to prolong the analgesia. Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the analgesic effects of caudal block with or without low-dose intravenous dexamethasone in children undergoing day-case herniotomy. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective randomised controlled study conducted in male patients, aged between 1 and 7 years scheduled for herniotomy. A total of 94 patients were randomised into two groups. Group A received intravenous 0.25 mg/kg dexamethasone in 5 ml solution, whereas Group B received equivalent volume of intravenous normal saline. All the patients had a caudal block. Post-operative pain was assessed and recorded in post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) using objective pain scale. Time to first analgesia request (TFA), pain scores and complications were documented. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21.0. Results: A total of 94 patients were analysed with a mean age of 3.30 ± 1.67 and 3.06 ± 1.50 years for Groups A and B, respectively. The TFA request was 654.18 ± 31.56 and 261.50 ± 10.82 min in Groups A and B, respectively, P = 0.0001. Postoperatively, in the PACU, there was statistically significant difference in pain score between the two groups at 0, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 240 min (P = 0.0001) all through. Conclusion: The use of low-dose intravenous dexamethasone (0.25 mg/kg) in combination with caudal block prolonged duration of analgesia, reduced pain scores and analgesic consumption postoperatively, in children undergoing day-case herniotomy.