Parasternal Nerve Block Using Bupivacaine for Postoperative Analgesia in Children Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

All pediatric patients who undergo cardiac surgery require analgesic medications for postoperative pain control and many require sedation to facilitate comfort with cares. Parasternal infiltration of local anesthetic for nerve blocks is a simple option to postoperative analgesia. The investigators hypothesize that Bupivacaine, a parasternal nerve block administered in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery will reduce the requirement of Opioids and other pain medications as well as decrease postoperative pain scores. This is a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Subjects are randomized to receive either 0.25% Bupivacaine or normal saline following their cardiothoracic surgery.