Saddle block with pethidine for perineal operations.

Saddle blockade with pethidine hydrochloride was performed in 111 patients undergoing short surgical operations on the perineum. A dose of 5% pethidine 0.5 mg kg-1 was injected to the subarachnoid space at L4-5 or L5-S1 with the patient in the sitting position. Sensory blockade was achieved in 5.28 +/- 1.43 min. This extended to the sacrococcygeal area, perineum, buttocks and posterior surface of thighs, and was followed 1-2 min later by motor blockade. During the operation the patients were stable haemodynamically and no respiratory depression was recorded. Sensory blockade lasted for 141 +/- 26.06 min and was followed by postoperative analgesia, the mean duration of which was 301 +/- 98.38 min. Postoperative neurological complications were recorded in three patients (2.7%): headache alone in one, headache associated with backache in one, and leg weakness, backache, nuchal rigidity and photophobia in another. Seven patients (6.3%) complained of itching, five patients (4.5%) of nausea and vomiting and two (1.8%) developed urinary retention.