title: [Caudal anesthesia in pediatric surgery].
abstract: The study analyses the efficacy and the safety of caudal anesthesia for the intra and postoperative pain management in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was conducted over a five years period enrolling 150 children scheduled for various surgical procedures. We used the standard technique ("loss of resistance", "single shot", lateral decubitus).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most important age groups were 1 month - 1 year, 64 cases (42.66%) and 1-6 years - 71 cases (47.33%). We performed 144 caudal blocks associated with general anesthesia, 3 associated with sedation and 3 simple caudal blocks. In 129 cases, we used bupivacaine 0.25% as a single analgetic substance, in five cases bupivacaine 0.25% with lidocaine 1%, and in 16 cases bupivacaine 0.25% with fentanyl 1 mcg/kg. The quality of the analgesia was very good in 128 cases (85.33%), good in 12 (8%) and poor in 10 cases (6.66%). The morbidity rate was 13.33% (20 cases), the most frequent complication being urinary retention (8 cases - 5.33%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The caudal block is an efficient procedure for intra and postoperative analgesia in children. Associated with general anesthesia it is very useful for the management of the age groups 1 month - 1 year and 1-6 years.
authors.affiliation: Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie Gr.T. Popa Iaşi, Facultatea de Medicină, Spitalul clinic Sf. Maria" Iaşi, Clinica de Chirurgie şi Ortopedie Pediatrică.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Aprodu
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Munteanu
authors.forename: Georgiana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Filciu
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Goţia
mesh_terms: D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000601:surgery; D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000763:Anesthesia, Caudal / Q000379:methods*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002045:Bupivacaine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D008012:Lidocaine; D005283:Fentanyl; D002045:Bupivacaine