Analgesia and sedation practices for incarcerated inguinal hernias in children.

Abstract

In this study, the use of medications for analgesia and/or sedation for incarcerated inguinal hernia reductions in the emergency department was analyzed. A retrospective chart review was conducted for all patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department with incarcerated inguinal hernia from 2002 to 2005. A total of 99 children presented with incarcerated hernias during the study period. The median age was 11 months. Forty-four percent of children received medication for the procedure, of them 75% received parenteral and 25% oral or intranasal medications. Forty-five percent of children who received medication went through at least 1 hernia reduction attempt initially without medications. More than half the children with incarcerated inguinal hernias did not receive any medication for pain and/or sedation prior to hernia reduction. Guidelines for medication use for children with incarcerated inguinal hernias need to be developed.

• Authors: Khalid Al-Ansari, Christopher Sulowski, Savithiri Ratnapalan
• Journal: Clinical pediatrics (Clin Pediatr (Phila)) Vol. 47 Issue 8 Pg. 766-9 (Oct 2008) ISSN: 0009-9228 [Print] United States
• PMID: 18490664 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Analgesia (methods)
• Chi-Square Distribution
• Child
• Conscious Sedation (methods)
• Female
• Hernia, Inguinal (surgery)
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Retrospective Studies
• Statistics, Nonparametric
• Treatment Outcome