Background
This study was designed to evaluate the preemptive analgesic efficacy of ketorolac tromethamine versus tramadol in providing postoperative pain relief and improving discharge criteria in children undergoing inguinal herniotomy.
Methods
Eighty children, aged between 2 and 12 years, undergoing inguinal herniotomy were randomly allocated to receive intravenous 1 mg/kg tramadol (group T;  = 40) or 1 mg/kg ketorolac (group K;  = 40), immediately after induction of general anesthesia.
Results
Time to first analgesia was significantly longer and total consumption of rescue analgesic was significantly lower in tramadol group compared with ketorolac group .There were no significant changes in intraoperative heart rate, and arterial pressure between groups. Intraoperative bleeding time was within normal in both groups, but it was significantly higher in the ketorolac. Adverse effects were not observed.
Conclusions
Tramadol provided longer duration of postoperative analgesia and reduced requirement for rescue analgesic compared with ketorolac in children undergoing inguinal herniotomy.