Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block under ultrasonography and caudal epidural block are techniques used to provide postoperative analgesia in children. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of these two analgesic techniques in pediatric inguinal hernia operations. MATERIAL AND METHOD:The study included 64 patients aged 4-12 years who underwent surgery for unilateral inguinal hernia. Caudal epidural block was applied to 33 patients (Group C) and TAP block to 31 (Group T). Routine follow-up of postoperative pain for pediatric patients was made with the Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale. A record was made for each patient of the time of requirement for additional analgesia, complications during the intervention and side-effects. RESULTS:In the evaluation of the faces pain rating scale, the scores of Group C were found to be significantly lower than those of Group T at 6, 8, and 12 hours postoperatively (p=0.04, p=0.03, p=0.03). The duration of postoperative analgesia was found to be mean 248.78±85.01 mins for Group T, and 329.94 ±105.96 mins for Group C (p= 0.001). The time of first requirement for additional analgesia was mean 13±4.8 hours in Group C, and 8±3.5 hours in Group T (p=0.02). CONCLUSION:The application of caudal block provided more effective postoperative analgesia than TAP block applied under ultrasonography guidance in pediatric inguinal hernia repair.

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