Dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in caudal analgesia in children

Postoperative pain management is becoming an integral part of anesthesia care. Various techniques of pediatric pain relief have been designed among which the most commonly practiced is caudal epidural block. Several adjuvants have been used to prolong the duration of caudal analgesia such as clonidine, neostigmine, ketamine, opioids, and ephedrine. We have designed the study using dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to assess analgesic efficacy, duration of postoperative analgesia, hemodynamic stability, postoperative sedation, and any adverse effects in children