• De Negri Pasquale P Department of Anesthesia, ICU and Pain Management, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico della Basilicata-Cancer Center, Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Italy, Giorgio Ivani, Tiziana Tirri, Pasqualina Modano, Cesare Reato, Staffan Eksborg, and Per-Arne Lonnqvist.
• Department of Anesthesia, ICU and Pain Management, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico della Basilicata-Cancer Center, Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Italy. pdenegri@crob.it
• Anesth. Analg. 2004 Jul 1; 99 (1): 45-8.

AbstractIn this prospective, randomized, observer-blinded clinical trial, we compared the incidence of unwanted lower extremity motor blockade and the analgesic efficacy between small-dose (0.125%; 0.2 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1)) postoperative epidural infusions of bupivacaine (Group B; n = 28), levobupivacaine (Group L; n = 27), and ropivacaine (Group R; n = 26) in children after hypospadias repair. Motor blockade and pain were assessed at predetermined time points during 48 h by using a modified Bromage scale and the Children's and Infant's Postoperative Pain Scale (CHIPPS). Postoperative analgesia was almost identical in all three study groups (CHIPPS range, 0-3), with no need for the administration of supplemental analgesia in any patient. However, significantly more patients in Group B (n = 6; P = 0.03) displayed signs of unwanted motor blockade during the observation period compared with Group L (n = 0) and Group R (n = 0). In conclusion, significantly less unwanted motor blockade was associated with postoperative epidural infusions of 0.125% levobupivacaine or ropivacaine in children after hypospadias repair as compared with a similar infusion of bupivacaine. However, no difference with regard to postoperative analgesia could be detected among the three different local anesthetics studied.

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