393 M.E.J. ANESTH 22 (4), 2014 CoMpAriSoN of ilioiNguiNAl /ilioHypogASTriC NErvE bloCkS ANd iNTrAvENouS MorpHiNE for CoNTrol of poST-orCHidopExy pAiN iN pEdiATriC AMbulATory SurgEry Khaled R. al-zaben * , IbRaheem Y. QudaIsat * , samI a. abu-halaweh * , w alId s. zuabI * , hashem m. al-momanI ** , nadeR m. albsoul ** and F aIsal a. KhatIb *** Abstract Background: The present study is a prospective randomized double-blinded study that designed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of postoperative pain control and incidence of complications between ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block and intravenous morphine in paediatric patients undergoing unilateral orchidopexy in day surgery unit. Methods: Seventy patients aged 2-12 years were randomly allocated to two groups of thirty ive. One group received intravenous morphine 100 microgram/kg before skin incision and the other group had ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block with 0.25ml/kg bupivacaine 0.5% also before skin incision. All patients have received standardized anaesthesia. Postoperative pain was assessed using 0 - 10 scale at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 postoperative hours, also the intraoperative fentanyl requirements, time to irst postoperative analgesia, the total number of paracetamol doses and any extra analgesic requirements were recorded, side effects like respiratory depression, vomiting, itching, inguinal hematoma and lower limb weakness were assessed during the irst 24 hours. Results: Pain scores were signiicantly lower in the morphine group compared to the block group on admission and one hour after admission to the postanaesthesia care unit, no signiicant difference in pain score on 2 nd , 3rd and 4 th postoperative hours. The total number of intraoperative fentanyl doses was signiicantly higher in the block group compared to morphine group, there was no signiicant difference in the duration of analgesia, number of total paracetamol doses, need for extra analgesics in both groups over the 24 postoperative hours. None of the seventy patients experienced postoperative respiratory depression, inguinal hematoma or lower limb weakness, but signiicantly more patients in morphine group experienced vomiting and itching compared to the block group. Conclusion: ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block and intravenous morphine administered following general anaesthesia for unilateral orchidopexy in day surgery unit are safe and effective in controlling postoperative pain, morphine analgesia had a higher incidence of postoperative vomiting and itching. * Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. ** Department of surgery. *** Department of Physiology and Biochemistry. Afiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman-Jordan. Corresponding author: Dr. Khaled Al-Zaben, Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman 11942 Jordan. Tel: 00962798505122. E-mail: kalzaben@yahoo.com