Pre-emptive Scalp Infiltration With Ropivacaine Plus Methylprednisolone vs Ropivacaine Alone for Relief of Postoperative Pain After Craniotomy in Children (RP/MP vs RP)

NCT03636165 Phase 4 UNKNOWN

At present, pediatric postoperative analgesia has not been fully understood and controlled, particularly craniotomy surgery. On the one hand, professional evaluation of postoperative pain for young children is difficult; on the other hand, the particularity of craniotomy adds (such as consciousness obstacle, sleepiness, et al) disturbance to the pain assessment in children. Although opioids administration is regarded as the first-line analgesic for post-craniotomy pain management, it may be associated with delayed awakening, respiratory depression, hypercarbia and it may interfere with the neurologic examination. For the avoidance of side-effects of systemic opioids, local anesthetics administered around the incision have been performed clinically. However, some studies revealed that the analgesic effect of local anesthetics was unsatisfactory due to its short pain relief duration, steroid as adjuvant can enhance postoperative analgesia and prolong postoperative analgesia time. As is reported that postoperative pain of craniotomy is mainly caused by skin incision and reflection of muscles, preventing the liberation of inflammatory mediators around the incision seems to be more effective than simply blocking nerve conduction. Thus, investigators suppose that pre-emptive scalp infiltration with steroid (Methylprednisolone) plus local anesthetic (ropivacaine) could relieve postoperative pain after craniotomy in children.

Details

Lead sponsor	Beijing Tiantan Hospital
Phase	Phase 4
Status	UNKNOWN
Enrolment	90
Start date	2022-09-01
Completion	2023-12

Conditions

• Pain, Postoperative
• Post-Craniotomy Headache

Interventions

• Methylprednisolone
• Ropivacaine

Primary outcomes

• Cumulative fentanyl consumption within 24 hours postoperatively — Within 24 hours after the operation
  The PCIA device provides bolus (0.5µg/kg, 10min lock-out time) and the maximum dose will be limited as 2µg/kg per hour. If the patients feel inadequate analgesia after 5 times of fentanyl bolus, the bolus dose will be increased to 1 µg/kg and the maximum dose will be increased to 4 µg/kg per hour