Patients and methods
A total of 60 children aged between 2 and 7 years old undergoing hypospadias repair under general anesthesia enrolled in the study. Those children were randomly divided into either group Ketorolac (group A) or Dexmedetomidine group (group B). Group (A) included 30 patients who received IV ketorolac in a dose 0.9 mg/kg after intubation for general anesthesia while group (B) included 30 patients who received IV dexmedetomidine in a dose 1 μg/kg after intubation. Pain scores (FLACC), sedation and emergence agitation (EA) scores, 1st analgesic dose, hemodynamics, and any side events were recorded.
Results
The main finding in this study was that group (B) had significantly lower FLACC at different postoperative times compared to group n(A)with  < 0.05; with exception at 4th and 12th hours. It was found that FLACC was zero in group (B) till the 6th hour postoperatively. All patients in the studied groups had sedation scale was 3 starting from the 4th postoperative hour. Immediate and 2-hour postoperatively, the score was significantly higher among the dexmedetomidine group.Two patients developed EA in group A but non in group B.
Conclusion
Adjuvant intravenous dexmedetomidine is more effective than intravenous ketorolac in postoperative analgesia children after hypospadias repair surgery under general anaesthesia.
Hypospadias repair surgery, though necessary, can be painful after the procedure, especially for children. Effective pain management is essential in all surgeries, but particularly in pediatric procedures. The current study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of intravenous ketorolac versus dexmedetomidine after hypospadias repair surgery.