• Jeong-Yeon Hong, Seohui Ahn, and Hae K Kil.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2011 Feb 1;21(2):116-20.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the changes of the flow velocity, the volume flow, and the diameter of dorsalis pedis artery using a duplex ultrasonography after caudal block with sevoflurane anesthesia in children.AimTo know the acute change in peripheral arterial flow patterns of sympathetically blocked lower limbs in anesthetized children.BackgroundCaudal analgesia in combination with general anesthesia may affect the circulatory hemodynamics due to sympatholytic vasodilating effects.MethodsAfter approval by the Ethics Committee, we evaluated the changes of peripheral hemodynamics using a duplex ultrasonography before and after a caudal block in sevoflurane-anesthetized children.ResultsA caudal block using 0.15% ropivacaine 1.5 ml·kg(-1) significantly altered the arterial flow patterns; increased peak velocity (24%) and volume flow (76%), and the diameter of the dorsalis pedis artery (20%) in children. However, blood pressures and heart rates were not affected significantly by caudal block.ConclusionsDuplex sonographic measurements indicate that a caudal block changes the flow patterns of the dorsalis pedis artery significantly in the anesthetized children.© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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