• Christian Breschan, Robert Jost, Ruth Krumpholz, Florian Schaumberger, Haro Stettner, Peter Marhofer, and Rudolf Likar.
• Department of Anaesthesia, LKH Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria. breschan.ch@chello.at
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2005 Apr 1;15(4):301-6.

BackgroundThe aim of our study was to compare postoperative analgesic efficacy, analgesic duration and motor blockade of levobupivacaine, ropivacaine and bupivacaine administered caudally in equal concentrations to children undergoing elective minor surgery.MethodsIn the study, 182 children, aged 1-7 years, undergoing either inguinal hernia repair or orchidopexy, were randomly allocated to one of the three groups. They received via a caudal extradural either 1 ml x kg(-1) levobupivacaine 0.2% (Group L) or 1 ml x kg(-1) ropivacaine 0.2% (Group R) or 1 ml x kg(-1) bupivacaine 0.2% (Group B).ResultsNo statistically significant difference was noted in age, weight, duration of the operation or level of the caudal block between the groups. The onset of analgesia was significantly later after levobupivacaine. Postoperative pain scoring evaluated with Children's and Infant's Postoperative Pain Scale observational scale showed no statistical difference between groups. Median postoperative analgesia was 5.75 h (SEMed: +/- 0.65) in Group L, 5.7 h (SEMed: +/- 0.8) in Group R and 5.35 h (SEMed: +/- 1.3) in Group B the difference being statistically nonsignificant.ConclusionsThe degree of motor block was significantly less after ropivacaine and levobupivacaine during the first 2 h postoperatively.

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