Epidural anesthesia for pediatric surgery in a university hospital in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE To present the safety and efficacy of epidural blockade in children. METHODS A respective review was carried out at the King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from April to December 2007. The patient age, type of surgery, epidural level block, technique, local anesthetic dose, and quality of epidural block were analyzed. RESULTS Thirty-eight epidural blockades in children with a mean age of 3 years +/- 7 months were performed under general anesthesia for different procedures. All patients had minimal, or no intravenous narcotic and exhibited hemodynamic stability. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. CONCLUSION Epidural anesthesia in children is safe and effective intraoperatively, as well as, for postoperative pain control.