TO EVALUATE THE ANALGESIC EFFICACY OF IPSILATERAL TRANSVERSUS ABDOMINIS PLANE BLOCK FOR LOWER ABDOMINAL SURGERIES IN CHILDREN: A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMISED CONTROLLED STUDY

BACKGROUND: Appendectomies and lower abdominal surgeries are associated with significant postoperative pain in children. Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block provides effective analgesia for patients undergoing lower abdominal surgeries. Our aim is to evaluate its analgesic efficacy for lower abdominal surgeries in children when compared to standard systemic analgesia. METHODOLOGY: After institutional Ethics Committee approval, 50 children, ASA I/II 7-13 yrs. undergoing lower abdominal surgeries were randomized into groups A and B of 25 each. All patients received standard General Anesthetic with standard monitoring. In Group A, TAP block was performed under land mark technique with 2.5mg/kg of 0.5% ropivacaine which is equivalent to 0.3ml/kg after General Anesthesia. In Group B, standard systemic analgesia was given which served as the control group. In addition, patients of both groups received regular IV paracetamol 15mg/kg immediately after completion of surgery. STATISTICS AND RESULTS: Statistical analysis was performed with student's t-test and Fisher's exact test. P<0.05 was considered significant. TAP block with ropivacaine reduced mean tramadol requirements in the 1st 24hrs postoperative period [42+15.89 vs. 80.35+19.16mg; p<0.001]. Postoperative VAS scores significantly reduced in TAP block group until 24hrs after surgery. No complications were reported with TAP block in our study. CONCLUSION: Land mark based TAP block, as a part of balanced analgesia regimen provides superior analgesia than systemic analgesia alone in children undergoing lower abdominal surgeries.