Comparing the effects of preincisional infiltration of Bopivacaine with postoperative rectal Acetaminophen on reducing postoperative pain after pediatric surgery

Using one subcutaneous infiltration of Bopivacaine can cause a good pain relief in pediatric surgery, so the child may no longer need rectal Acetaminophen after surgery. In this study, we compared the efficacy of the two drugs. This was a clinical trial, performed on 141 pediatric patients between 6 months to 3 years old with unilateral or bilateral inguinal hernia or undescending testis. Patients were divided randomly into two groups. The first group received infiltration of Bopivacaine preoperatively and the second received the routine rectal Acetaminophen after surgery. In both groups pain score was measured with FPRS score 3,6,12 and 24 hours after surgery. After collecting data they were analyzed with T-student and Friedman tests. P<0/05 was considered significant. Global FPRS pain score was lower in the group treated with Bupivacaine infiltration on 3 and 6 hours after surgery (p<0/05), but in 12 and 24 hours after surgery no significant difference was seen in the two groups. This study showed that, infiltration of Bupivacaine reduces pain better than Acetaminophen, especially during the first 6 hours after surgery. So because of better pain control and also single administration, we suggest using infiltralition of Bupivacaine preoperatively.