Ketamine as an adjunct to bupivacaine in infra-orbital nerve block analgesia after cleft lip repair

OBJECTIVES: We conducted this study to investigate the safety and analgesic efficacy of the addition of Ketamine to Bupivacaine in bilateral extra-oral infra-orbital nerve block in children undergoing cleft lip surgeries. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly allocated into two groups (n = 30), Group B received infra-orbital nerve block with 2 mL of 0.25% Bupivacaine and Group BK received 0.5 mg.kg(−1) Ketamine for each side added to 1 mL of 0.5% Bupivacaine solution diluted up to 2 mL solution to 0.25% Bupivacaine concentration. Assessment parameters included; hemodynamics, recovery time, time to first oral intake, postoperative Faces Legs Activity Cry Consolability (FLACC) scores, Four-point Agitation scores, analgesic consumption and adverse effects. RESULTS: Patients in Group BK showed lower postoperative FLACC scores during all recorded time points (p < 0.0001). Two patients in Group BK versus 12 in Group B requested for postoperative rescue analgesia (p < 0.001). There were no differences between groups in time, minutes (min), to first request for rescue analgesia. Patients in Group BK reported lower analgesic consumption (366.67 ± 45.67 vs. 240.0 ± 0.0 mg, p < 0.04). The time to first oral intake was significantly reduced in Group BK (87.67 ± 15.41 vs. 27.33 ± 8.68 min, p < 0.001). Lower postoperative Agitation scores were recorded in Group BK patients that reached a statistical significance at 45 min (0.86 ± 0.11 vs. 0.46 ± 0.16, p < 0.04) and in the first hour (h) postoperatively (1.40 ± 0.17 vs. 0.67 ± 0.14, p < 0.003). Higher parent satisfaction scores were recorded in Group BK (p < 0.04) without significant adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of Ketamine to Bupivacaine has accentuated the analgesic efficacy of infra-orbital nerve block in children undergoing cleft lip repair surgeries.