The addition of intrathecal midazolam to bupivacaine significantly improves the duration and quality of spinal anaesthesia and provides prolonged perioperative analgesia without significant side-effects.

This study evaluated the antiemetic efficacy, cost-effectiveness and clinical utility of prophylactic ondansetron and dexamethasone compared with placebo in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in 135 children (2-15 yr, ASA I-II) undergoing strabismus repair. After induction with halothane and nitrous oxide in oxygen or i.v. thiopental, the children received i.v. dexamethasone 1 mg kg(-1) to a maximum of 25 mg, ondansetron 100 microg kg(-1) to a maximum of 4 mg or placebo (n=45). Episodes of PONV were recorded for the first 24 h after the operation. True outcome measures (parental satisfaction score, duration of stay in the postanaesthesia care unit and fast tracking time), therapeutic outcome measures (number needed to prevent (NNTP) PONV) and the cost to benefit a child with each drug were analysed. The incidence and severity of PONV in the first 24 h were significantly less in the dexamethasone and ondansetron groups than in the placebo group (P<0.05). The incidence (P=0.04) and severity (P=0.03) of PONV at the 6-24 h epoch were significantly less in the dexamethasone group than in the ondansetron group. Recovery time (P=0.07), fast tracking time (P=0.6), parental satisfaction scores (P=0.08) and NNTP PONV were comparable (NNTP=2) in both the ondansetron and the dexamethasone group. The cost to benefit a child with dexamethasone was approximately 22 times less than that of ondansetron.

In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of different doses of prophylactic IV dexamethasone for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in 168 children (aged 2-15 yr) scheduled for strabismus surgery. Patients received IV dexamethasone 0.25 mg/kg (D 0.25), 0.5 mg/kg (D 0.5), 1.0 mg/kg (D 1), or saline (S) immediately after induction of general anesthesia. Patients were discharged 24 h after surgery. Nausea and vomiting were assessed at 0-2, 2-6, and 6-24 h after surgery. Blood glucose was measured preoperatively and at 4 h after study drug administration. Wound healing and infection were assessed after 1 wk. More patients in group S had vomiting at 0-2, 2-6, and 6-24 h (P = 0.001, P = 0.003, and P = 0.04, respectively) and required larger doses of rescue antiemetics compared with the dexamethasone groups. Fewer patients in the dexamethasone groups (6, 3, and 6 in D 0.25, D 0.5, and D 1, respectively) had severe PONV compared with group S (P = 0.001). No significant increase in postoperative blood glucose levels was observed and wound healing was satisfactory in all four groups. The results suggest that dexamethasone 0.25 mg/kg is more effective than saline and equally effective compared with larger doses for preventing PONV for pediatric strabismus surgery.

SummarySixty premedicated, ASA physical status I or II patients weighing . 25 kg scheduled for elective retinal detachment repair were randomly assigned to receive either peribulbar block with 10 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine (block group) or intravenous morphine 150 mg.kg 21 (morphine group), prior to the induction of general anaesthesia (n 30 in each group). Patients were evaluated for intraoperative oculocardiac reflex , peri-operative pain relief, recovery from anaesthesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Apart from significantly reducing the incidence of oculocardiac reflex (30% vs. 70%, p 0.0019), peribulbar bupivacaine also attenuated the severity of the reflex. Postoperative pain relief was superior in the block group. More block group patients had the maximum recovery score in the immediate postoperative period (80% vs. 27%, p , 0.0001) and they achieved complete recovery significantly faster than the morphine group (17.3 (14.7) min vs. 66.7 (29.7) min, p , 0.0001). The incidence (40% vs. 77%, p 0.004) and severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting were significantly less in the block group. In summary, peribulbar bupivacaine, when administered together with general anaesthesia, attenuated oculocardiac reflex, provided comparable intra-operative and superior postoperative analgesia, resulted in significantly earlier and better recovery from anaesthesia, and significantly reduced the incidence and severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting.

We studied the effect of the addition of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 microg/kg clonidine to a lidocaine-hyaluronidase mixture on the onset and duration of peribulbar block and perioperative analgesia. A dose of 1.0 microg/kg produced a significant increase in duration of anesthesia and analgesia with minimal side effects.