Caudal Versus Rectus Sheath Study

The literature has clearly demonstrated that the effective treatment of postoperative pain in infants and children is challenging. In an effort to improve postoperative analgesia while limiting opioid-related adverse effects, there continues to be an increased use of regional anesthetic techniques in infants and children. Although the pediatric caudal remains the most commonly used pediatric regional anesthetic technique, it has been demonstrated that effective analgesia can be provided with the use of peripheral nerve blockade even in the pediatric-aged patient. The purpose of this study is to prospectively compare post-operative pain relief in pediatric patients undergoing umbilical hernia repair who have received either a caudal block or bilateral rectus sheath blocks for analgesia