A Comparative Study of Bilateral Infraorbital Nerve Block with Intravenous Pentazocine on The Immediate Postoperative Pain Management Following Cleft Lip Repair in Infants

Purpose: Comparative evidence of the effectiveness of bilateral infraorbital nerve block for immediate postoperative pain management in infants after cleilorrhaphy especially in Africans is lacking. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of bilateral infraorbital nerve block using Bupivacaine with intravenous Pentazocine for the control of immediate postoperative pain in an infant age group following cleft lip repair. Methods: This was a prospective randomized controlled clinical study. The sampled population was patient aged 3 to 12 months undergoing cleft lip repair at a tertiary health facility in Lagos, Nigeria. Study patients were randomly allocated to either group 1 (Bupivacaine infraorbital nerve block) or group 2 (intravenous Pentazocine). Primary outcome was the duration of analgesia following the administration of both drugs. Assessment of immediate postoperative pain was done using the FLACC (Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolablity) pain scale. Scoring was done at hourly intervals postoperatively, observing the child for 1 minute at each hour and rescue analgesia (intravenous paracetamol) given when FLACC score exceeds 3. The duration of analgesia was the time of from administration of the intervention to the time rescue analgesia was administered. Calculated sample size was 20 participants per group. Descriptive and comparative statistics were computed using SPSS and the p-value was set at