Use of warm local anaesthetic solution for caudal blocks

Abstract

A double-blind study was undertaken to investigate the effect of prewarmed local anaesthetic solution on the latency of onset of caudal blocks. Forty-four (ASA I-II) patients were allocated into two equal groups. In Group A, the local anaesthetic solutions were injected at room temperature (25°C), while in Group B, they were injected at 37°C. All the caudal blocks were performed using 20 ml of lignocaine 1.5% with adrenaline 1:200000. The speed of onset of perianal analgesia was found to be significantly faster (39%) with the prewarmed local anaesthetic solution (P < 0.05). No adverse effects were observed.