Regional Anesthesia in Children: How Do We Know It Works? A Review of a Novel Tool for Assessing the Impact of

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David L Moore1, Lili Ding2, Fang Yang2

  • 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 27, 2025
PubMed

Insights

A new tool, the morphine equivalency rate (MER), objectively measures the benefits of regional anesthesia (RA) in children. This quantitative assessment demonstrates RA

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Pain Management
  • Regional Anesthesia Efficacy

Background:

  • Assessing regional anesthesia (RA) efficacy in pediatric patients often relies on subjective measures.
  • Objective tools are needed to highlight the importance and utility of RA in children.
  • Opioid use in pediatric surgery carries risks, including adverse effects and potential for abuse.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate the utility of a novel quantitative assessment tool for regional anesthesia efficacy in children.
  • To implement and evaluate the morphine equivalency rate (MER) as an objective measure of RA benefit.
  • To compare opioid consumption in pediatric patients with and without RA.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of patient records from a quaternary-care pediatric hospital over 6 months.
  • Utilized the morphine equivalency rate (MER) in mcg/kg/hour to compare opioid use.
  • Compared patients undergoing similar procedures with and without regional anesthesia (RA).

Main Results:

  • A total of 744 pediatric patients were included; 333 received RA.
  • The regional anesthesia group showed statistically and clinically significant benefits compared to the non-RA group.
  • The MER demonstrated a clear advantage of RA in reducing opioid requirements.

Conclusions:

  • The morphine equivalency rate (MER) provides an objective measurement of regional anesthesia (RA) benefits in pediatric surgical patients.
  • Objective assessment tools like MER can impact the adoption of RA by surgeons.
  • Wider utilization of MER could lead to reduced opioid use and potentially mitigate opioid abuse in pediatric populations.
Abstract

Keywords:
epidural analgesiaopioid sparingpediatric surgical painregional anesthesia

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