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Background and Aims Epidural anesthesia is established as a standard in global medical practice. Caudal anesthesia is a specific case of epidural anesthesia, with proven effectiveness in various surgical interventions aimed at perioperative pain management. Evaluation of the effectiveness is based on pain assessment scales, intraoperative opioid use, and postoperative need for analgesics.

Methods Detailed literature review on the history, techniques, benefits, and complications of caudal and general analgesia in pediatric patients. Development of a protocol for selecting patients suitable for these types of anesthetic technique. The study included patients in the age group of 0-7 years scheduled for elective and emergency surgical interventions suitable for both techniques. Statistical analysis of the obtained results.

Results The provided results for caudal anesthesia in the pediatric population from the Clinic of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital ‘N.I. Pirogov,’ confirm the described results in the literature review on the topic – circulatory stability, high effectiveness of postoperative pain management, reduced need for analgesic drugs postoperatively compared to the data from the general anesthesia group patients.

Conclusions Caudal anesthesia in pediatric patients is relatively safe, with minimal complication rates when properly executed within the indications for this type of anesthesia and preoperative analgesia – effective pain management and reduced psycho-emotional stress, improved quality of hospital stay, decreased opioid requirements, reduced consumption of analgesic drugs postoperatively. With qualified personnel and well-equipped facilities for both execution and management of potential complications, caudal anesthesia becomes the ‘gold standard’ for the pediatric population.

Attachment Ethic Comittee, CaudalvsGeneral.pdf