Pre-emptive Caudal Epidural Analgesia With Ropivacaine With or Without Dexamethasone in Lumbosacral Spine Surgery

Summary

Lumbosacral spine surgeries are commonly performed under GA. Perioperative pain following spine surgeries not only contributes to significant morbidities but also hampers early mobilization. Perioperative opioids, though relieve pain but hampers consciousness, increase PONV and delays mobilization. Caudal analgesia can be effectively given preemptively to alleviate pain and facilitate early mobilization. Caudal epidural block places the needle through the sacral hiatus into the epidural space to deliver medications. It can be performed as ultrasound guided procedure with very high successful rates. Single shot caudal block with local anesthetic provides analgesia for 2-4 hours but this can be further prolonged by adding adjuvants like opioids, steroids, ketamine, alpha 2 agonists, adrenaline etc. Ropivacaine is a long-acting amide local anesthetic agent which is less lipophilic, less cardiac and central nervous system toxicity with similar duration of analgesia, has lesser motor blockade and facilitates earlier mobilization than bupivacaine. Dexamethasone is a highly potent, long acting glucocorticoid. Caudal dexamethasone prolongs the analgesic duration of the ropivacaine. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of pre-emptive caudal epidural analgesia for postoperative pain relief in lumbosacral surgeries and to compare the effect of adding dexamethasone to ropivacaine with respect to quality of analgesia, duration of analgesia, hemodynamic effects and associated side effects.

Timeline

Start

2023-08-01

Primary completion

2024-02-28

Completion

2024-02-28

Publications

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• Background Chen CP, Wong AM, Hsu CC, Tsai WC, Chang CN, Lin SC, Huang YC, Chang CH, Tang SF. Ultrasound as a screening tool for proceeding with caudal epidural injections. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2010 Mar;91(3):358-63. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2009.11.019.
• Background Nikooseresht M, Hashemi M, Mohajerani SA, Shahandeh F, Agah M. Ultrasound as a screening tool for performing caudal epidural injections. Iran J Radiol. 2014 May;11(2):e13262. doi: 10.5812/iranjradiol.13262. Epub 2014 May 15.
• Background Chen CP, Tang SF, Hsu TC, Tsai WC, Liu HP, Chen MJ, Date E, Lew HL. Ultrasound guidance in caudal epidural needle placement. Anesthesiology. 2004 Jul;101(1):181-4. doi: 10.1097/00000542-200407000-00028.
• Background Blanchais A, Le Goff B, Guillot P, Berthelot JM, Glemarec J, Maugars Y. Feasibility and safety of ultrasound-guided caudal epidural glucocorticoid injections. Joint Bone Spine. 2010 Oct;77(5):440-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jbspin.2010.04.016. Epub 2010 Sep 24.
• Background Yoon JS, Sim KH, Kim SJ, Kim WS, Koh SB, Kim BJ. The feasibility of color Doppler ultrasonography for caudal epidural steroid injection. Pain. 2005 Nov;118(1-2):210-4. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2005.08.014. Epub 2005 Oct 4.
• Background Aggarwal A, Aggarwal A, Harjeet, Sahni D. Morphometry of sacral hiatus and its clinical relevance in caudal epidural block. Surg Radiol Anat. 2009 Dec;31(10):793-800. doi: 10.1007/s00276-009-0529-4. Epub 2009 Jul 4.
• Background Kiribayashi M, Inagaki Y, Nishimura Y, Yamasaki K, Takahashi S, Ueda K. Caudal blockade shortens the time to walking exercise in elderly patients following low back surgery. J Anesth. 2010 Apr;24(2):192-6. doi: 10.1007/s00540-009-0840-6. Epub 2010 Jan 19.
• Background Kumar S, Palaniappan JM, Kishan A. Preemptive Caudal Ropivacaine: An Effective Analgesic during Degenerative Lumbar Spine Surgery. Asian Spine J. 2017 Feb;11(1):113-119. doi: 10.4184/asj.2017.11.1.113. Epub 2017 Feb 17.
• Background Kalappa S, Sridhara RB, Kumaraswamy S. Dexmedetomidine as an Adjuvant to Pre-Emptive Caudal Epidural Ropivacaine for Lumbosacral Spine Surgeries. J Clin Diagn Res. 2016 Jan;10(1):UC22-4. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2016/15286.7145. Epub 2016 Jan 1.
• Background Samagh N, Pai RK, Mathews TK, Jangra K, Varma RG. Pre-emptive caudal epidural analgesia with ropivacaine for lumbosacral spine surgery: A randomized case control study. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2018 Apr-Jun;34(2):237-241. doi: 10.4103/joacp.JOACP_72_17.
• Background Rosenberg PH, Heinonen E. Differential sensitivity of A and C nerve fibres to long-acting amide local anaesthetics. Br J Anaesth. 1983 Feb;55(2):163-7. doi: 10.1093/bja/55.2.163.
• Background Kalappa S, Sridhar RB, Nagappa S. Comparing the Efficacy of Caudal with Intravenous Dexamethasone in the Management of Pain Following Lumbosacral Spine Surgeries: A Randomized Double Blinded Controlled Study. Anesth Essays Res. 2017 Apr-Jun;11(2):416-420. doi: 10.4103/0259-1162.194581.
• Results Baliga S, Treon K, Craig NJ. Low Back Pain: Current Surgical Approaches. Asian Spine J. 2015 Aug;9(4):645-57. doi: 10.4184/asj.2015.9.4.645. Epub 2015 Jul 28.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.