Randomized controlled trial on preemptive analgesia for acute postoperative pain management in children

51 pediatric patients scheduled for corrective osteotomy were randomized to undergo the procedure with an analgesia regimen initiated either 5 minutes prior to or 5 minutes after skin incision. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant improvements in postoperative pain, rescue analgesic use, the frequency of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) button use, and incidence of nausea and vomiting were associated with preemptive analgesia when compared to standard analgesia throughout a 48-hour post-surgery period. A significantly higher emergence agitation score (EAS) was observed in the control group upon admittance to the PACU, however, values became comparable after one hour. Additionally, differences in postoperative pain and all other outcomes of interest were not significant throughout the study duration.