Kim DH, et al. - As there is no ideal postoperative management strategy for severe postoperative pain in children undergoing major orthopedic surgery of the lower extremities, researchers investigated if intraoperative epidural infusion of local anesthetic has any influence the acute postoperative pain and analgesic consumption. For this purpose, they randomly administered patients (N=50, 3–12 years) either ropivacaine 0.15% (preemptive group) or normal saline (control group) as an initial bolus of 0.2 mL/kg, followed by continuous infusion of 0.15 mL/kg/h throughout surgery. Patient-controlled epidural analgesia with ropivacaine 0.1% was provided following surgery. Outcomes revealed no preemptive analgesic efficacy of intraoperative epidural infusion with ropivacaine within 48 hours postoperatively in this patient population.