Analgesia after otoplasty: Regional nerve blockade vs local anaesthetic infiltration of the ear

Purpose: Children scheduled to undergo otoplasty experience severe pain postoperatively. Nausea and vomiting is also a problem. This study was designed to compare two analgesic techniques (i) regional nerve blockade (ii) local anaesthetic infiltration, with respect to quality and duration of analgesia, opioid requirements and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Methods: Forty three children, ASA I-II, aged 3-15 yr, were studied and followed for 24 hr postoperatively. Patients were randomised into two groups. Patients in Group A received local infiltration with lidocaine 1% with adrenaline 1:200,000 0.4 ml . kg(-1) (n = 21). Patients in Group B (n = 22) received nerve blockade, bupivacaine 0.5%, 0.4 ml . kg(-1). No other form of analgesia was used intraoperatively. Quality and duration of analgesia were assessed using pain and sedation scores recorded by a blinded observer at 0, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 min with Recovery Room, and at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 360, 480 min on the ward. Pain score >6 was treated with fentanyl 1 mu g . kg(-1) iv (recovery) and morphine 0.2 mg . kg(-1) im or mefenamic acid 8 mg . kg(-1) po on the ward. Time to first supplemental analgesia was noted Mean duration of analgesia was 8.6 (1.1-24) hr, Group A and 10.5 (1.3-24) hr, Group B (P > 0.7). 24% per cent of children (Group A) and 27% (Group B) required no supplemental analgesia (P > 0.6). The degree of pain control resulted in a low requirement for opioids, Group A: 24%, Group B: 14% (P:NS). The overall incidence of PONV was 43% (Group A) and 36% (Group B) (P:NS): PONV correlated with opioid use. There were no differences between the groups with regard to pain/sedation scores, quality/duration of analgesia, opioid requirements and incidence of PONV. Conclusion: Both techniques provided excellent postoperative analgesia. Lidocaine 1% infiltration (adrenaline 1:200,000) has the added advantage of improving surgical field and haemostasis. Thus, we advocate use of the simpler technique.