Comparison of Postoperative Analgesic Efficacy of Penile Block and Caudal Block in hypospadias repair
Introduction: Penile block is better than the caudal epidural block in postoperative pain control in patients undergoing Hypospadias repair .Postoperative pain relief is an important aspect of surgery. It decreases morbidity, helps in early rehabilitation of the patient and decreases the need for narcotic analgesics. Objective: To compare the postoperative analgesic efficacy of penile block and caudal block following hypospadias repair. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out at Department of Plastic Surgery, Northwest General Hospital and Research Center Peshawar, between January 2014 and February 2016. Study design was prospective Randomized trial and the duration of the study was 2 years in a total of 26 patients who underwent hypospadias repair were included.  General anesthesia was used in all cases. The patients were randomly allocated in two groups by lottery methods receive penile block (Group 1), caudal block (Group 2). Post operative pain measurement was done via Visual analogue scale at hourly intervals for 6 hours post operatively and compared. Statistical tests were performed with a SPSS 20.0 and statistical significance was set at a P value of < 0.05. Results: Postoperative pain control was better in patients who received penile block than those who received caudal block in the first 6 post operative hours. The difference was significant (P <0.05). The Group 1 patients needed less post operative analgesia than group 2. Conclusion: Penile block is better than the caudal epidural block in postoperative pain control in patients undergoing Hypospadias repair. Penile block is a simple procedure and is performed by the surgeon. Key Words: Postoperative analgesic, efficacy, penile block, caudal block, hypospadias repair.