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CompletedNCT05633173Updated Mar 24, 2023

Effects of Erector Spinae Plane and Caudal Block on Postoperative Stress Response

An interventional study of Ultrasound-guided erector spinae plan block and Ultrasound-guided caudal block in Post Operative Pain, Stress Response and Erector Spinae Plane Block, sponsored by Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Turkey. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 6 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-03-24.

Sponsored by Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
62
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
1 Year to 6 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Inguinal hernia surgery is the most common practice of pediatric surgeons in their clinical practice. As these operations are usually day case procedures, maintaining adequate analgesia is an important component of perioperative care and ERAS protocols. Caudal block, which is one of the analgesic methods used for postoperative pain, is the most frequently used in inguinal hernia surgery and its effectiveness has been proven. Erector spina plane block, which is easy to apply and has a low risk of side effects, is another tool used in the treatment of postoperative pain after inguinal hernia surgery. These are the procedures that are routinely applied in our center with the aim of intraoperative and postoperative effective analgesia.

Read the detailed description

Surgery is a common medical procedure that exposes children to pain. More than 85% of children experience clinically significant pain after surgery and 63% after discharge. Postoperative pain management in pediatric ages also plays a role in future pain perception and chronic pain development. It has been reported that acute postoperative pain progresses to chronic pain in 20% of children undergoing major surgery. It is also known that children with inadequate pain management experience a decline in immune and neuroendocrine functions later in life.

Inguinal hernia surgery is one of the most frequently performed elective surgeries in pediatric surgery practice and often performed in early childhood. The presence of postoperative pain delays the return to normal activity and prolongs the time to discharge. Ideal pain management should provide complete pain relief without interfering with the child's daily life, and the techniques and drugs used in the treatment should cause as few side effects as possible. Opioid and non-opioid analgesics have side effects such as itching, vomiting, delay in gastrointestinal function, urinary retention, respiratory depression, liver failure, antithrombotic effect, delayed wound healing, renal and gastrointestinal toxicity that limit their use in children.

In recent years, multimodal analgesia in which non-opioid analgesics are combined with small doses of opioids or regional blocks is increasingly preferred. Caudal block, one of the regional blocks, has been widely used in pediatric surgery for many years due to its proven effectiveness in postoperative analgesia. In addition, with the widespread use of ultrasound, many body blocks have become used with high success rates in both upper and lower abdominal surgeries in postoperative pain management. Erector spina plane block (ESPB), defined by Forrero et al. in 2016, is an interfacial plane block that is a simpler and safer alternative to thoracic epidural or paravertebral block. Its use for analgesia is common in adults in various surgeries, and its use in pediatric surgeries is also becoming widespread. In a review published in 2019, it was reported that only 23 of 242 ESPB cases were children. Clinical studies of ESPB applied in pediatric patients are not sufficient in the literature.

Tissue damage caused by surgery or trauma brings hormonal, metabolic and hemodynamic changes. It is known that post-surgical stress response causes major changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Controlling postoperative pain is associated with decreased stress hormone response. The scales used in the evaluation of postoperative pain in pediatric patients are insufficient due to the inability of the patients to express themselves and their high anxiety coefficients. For this reason, it has been suggested that stress hormone levels may be an objective method for determining the analgesic efficacy of the anesthetic technique. Early mobilization and postoperative pain management gain importance in inguinal hernia surgery, since they are outpatient surgical procedures.

02

Conditions studied

  • Post Operative Pain
  • Stress Response
  • Erector Spinae Plane Block
  • Caudal Block

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Keywords

  • Pediatric regional anesthesia
  • Erector spina plane block
  • Caudal block
  • Surgical stress hormone
03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,093 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,140 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 62 is below the median of 75 across 4,344 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital is the lead sponsor of 110 studies on the registry; 14 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
1 Year to 6 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) class I-II patients
  • Patients aged 1 - 6 years
  • Patients who will undergo unilateral inguinal hernia surgery

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • ASA III - IV patients
  • Emergency surgery patients
  • Children of parents who did not give consent
  • Patients with chronic pain
  • Local anesthetic allergy
  • Infection in the block area
  • Coagulopathy
  • Increased intracranial pressure
  • Neurological deficit
  • Severe organ failure
  • Mental retardation
  • Anatomical deformities
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
62 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Group E

    Ultrasound-guided erector spina plan block was performed for patients in group E for postoperative analgesia. The patients were placed in the lateral decubitus position and the linear ultrasound probe was placed longitudinally into the sterilized area 1-2 cm lateral to the spinous process of the L1 vertebra. After visualizing the erector spina muscle and the transverse process, the transverse process was reached by pushing forward the 22 gauge, 50 mm needle in the direction from cranial to caudal. Hydrodissection was performed with 1 ml of saline for confirmation. 0.5 mL kg-1 dose of 0.25% bupivacaine was injected under the erector spina muscle at the level of the 1st lumbar vertebra by aspiration every 2 mL.

    Procedure: Ultrasound-guided erector spinae plan block

  • Active comparator
    Group C

    The patients in group C underwent ultrasound guided caudal block for postoperative analgesia. By placing the patients in the lateral decubitus position, the linear ultrasound probe was placed longitudinally on the sterilized area on the midline of the sacrum, and access was provided with a 2.5 cm 22 gauge needle on the dorsal skin of the sacral hiatus at a 90° position. The sacrococcygeal ligament was crossed, the needle was oriented approximately 25° and advanced approximately 2 to 3 mm to reach the sacral canal. When it was understood that the sacral hiatus had been entered, 0.5 mL kg-1 0.25% bupivacaine was injected by aspirating every 2 mL after the location was confirmed with the negative aspiration method.

    Procedure: Ultrasound-guided caudal block

Interventions

  • ProcedureUltrasound-guided erector spinae plan block

    Ultrasound-guided erector spina plan block was performed for patients in group E for postoperative analgesia. The patients were placed in the lateral decubitus position and the linear ultrasound probe was placed longitudinally into the sterilized area 1-2 cm lateral to the spinous process of the L1 vertebra. After visualizing the erector spina muscle and the transverse process, the transverse process was reached by pushing forward the 22 gauge, 50 mm needle in the direction from cranial to caudal. Hydrodissection was performed with 1 ml of saline for confirmation. 0.5 mL kg-1 dose of 0.25% bupivacaine was injected under the erector spina muscle at the level of the 1st lumbar vertebra by aspiration every 2 mL.

  • ProcedureUltrasound-guided caudal block

    The patients in group C underwent ultrasound guided caudal block for postoperative analgesia. By placing the patients in the lateral decubitus position, the linear ultrasound probe was placed longitudinally on the sterilized area on the midline of the sacrum, and access was provided with a 2.5 cm 22 gauge needle on the dorsal skin of the sacral hiatus at a 90° position. The sacrococcygeal ligament was crossed, the needle was oriented approximately 25° and advanced approximately 2 to 3 mm to reach the sacral canal. When it was understood that the sacral hiatus had been entered, 0.5 mL kg-1 0.25% bupivacaine was injected by aspirating every 2 mL after the location was confirmed with the negative aspiration method.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Stress Response

    serum concentration of Cortisol, serum concentration of Prolactin

    Time frame: 3 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. FLACC scores

    Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) Behavioral Pain Scale. FLACC is abehavioral pain assessment scale used for nonverbal or preverbal patients who areunable to self-report their level of pain. Pain is assessed through observation of 5categories including face, legs, activity, cry, and consolability. The increase in thepain felt by the patient also increases the fl acc score. Each category is scored onthe 0-2 scale which results in a total score of 0-10.

    Time frame: 24 hours

  2. Analgesic Consumption

    The total amount of analgesic in the first 24 hours

    Time frame: 24 hours

  3. Analgesia Time

    The time of first analgesic need

    Time frame: 24 hours

  4. Complications

    Hypotension, bradycardia, vomiting, itching

    Time frame: 24 hours

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital
    Istanbul, Sisli, Turkey
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 24, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05633173
Lead sponsor
Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital
Responsible party
Özge Uyanıkoğlu (Medical doctor, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Dec 1, 2022
Start date
Dec 6, 2022
Primary completion
Feb 25, 2023
Completion
Mar 5, 2023
Last update
Mar 24, 2023

Study contacts

Ayşe Surhan ÇINAR
study chair · Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Research and Training Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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