Safety and Efficacy of Paediatric Spinal Anaesthesia in a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

Background: Paediatric spinal anaesthesia has some advantages in children, especially for infra-umbilical surgeries. It is, however, an underutilised technique when compared with General anaesthesia (GA). This study sets to determine the efficacy and complications of spinal anaesthesia in infra-umbilical surgeries among paediatrics. Materials and Methods: A prospective analytic study was conducted among thirty-three children <16 years, scheduled for elective infra-umbilical surgeries. Data generated was analysed descriptively in proportions for categorical data and mean with standard deviation to assess heart rate, respiratory rate, SPO2, and blood pressure between the times that the vital signs were recorded. Results: The majority of participants (69.7%) were between 0 and 5 years. The surgeries performed were mostly herniotomy (39.4%). The onset of the block was <3 min in 84.8% of patients. The level of block achieved was mostly T8 (45.5%) and T10 (42.4%). There was no need for conversion to GA in 90.9% of patients and the average duration of the procedure was 25 min. There were no complications recorded. Conclusion: The use of spinal anaesthesia in paediatrics that underwent infra-umbilical surgeries was safe and successful in 90.9% of patients. Therefore, spinal anaesthesia can be explored in larger samples of paediatric patients for its full adoption in paediatric surgeries.