The effect of pre-emptive pain relief to prevent postoperative pain in children

INTERVENTION: The study will randomly allocate a patient to an intervention or control group, using permuted block randomization. The intervention group will receive pre‐emptive analgesic paracetamol orally (15 mg/kg) and the control group will receive a placebo in addition to midazolam (0.5 mg/kg) as premedication. All children are administered sevoflurane gas, intravenous propofol (between 2 and 4 mg/kg), and fentanyl (2 mcg/kg). During the surgery, all patients receive intravenous dexamethasone (0.2 mg/kg) and nalbuphine (0.2 mg/kg) as standard perioperative analgesia. CONDITION: Postoperative pain in children ; Surgery ; Postoperative pain in children PRIMARY OUTCOME: Postoperative pain measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Wong–Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale, and the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after surgery SECONDARY OUTCOME: Discomfort with self‐adhesive electrodes or cannulation after surgery measured by asking to locate the site of pain in postoperative assessment at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after surgery INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Aged between 3 and 17 years 2. Otolaryngological procedure needed 3. Written informed consent to participate in the study from parents (or legal guardians)