A COMPARISON BETWEEN ILIOINGUINAL ILIOHYPOGASTRIC NERVE BLOCK PERFORMED BY ANESTHETIST OR SURGEON FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA FOLLOWING GROIN SURGERY IN CHILDREN

A study was performed to compare postoperative analgesia in children u ndergoing groin surgery. Patients were randomly allocated to receive i lioinguinal-iliohypogastric (I-I) nerve blocks using 0.25% plain bupiv icaine (0.5 ml . kg(-1)) performed either percutaneously by the anaest hetist after the induction of general anaesthesia, before surgery comm enced, or intraoperatively, under direct vision, by the surgeon. Analg esia was assessed by pain scoring in the recovery room and at hourly i ntervals for eight h postoperatively. Analgesic requirement was also n oted. Statistical analysis of the results revealed no difference in pa in score between groups treated either by anaesthetist or surgeon. How ever, children under two years of age had significantly higher pain sc ores than those over two.