Introduction and Objectives: Delayed discharge of paediatric patients due to postsurgical fever is frequently observed in patients anaesthetized with Ketamine and Glycopyrrolate. Hence the present study was done to evaluate and compare the body temperature of paediatric patients with and without pre-anaesthetic medication with Glycopyrrolate.

Material and Methods: A randomised, double blind prospective study was done on 40 paediatric patients of age 1 – 8 years posted for lower abdominal surgeries. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups, Group I – Glycopyrrolate group, receiving 0.005mg/Kg i.v. glycopyrrolate and Group II – Placebo group, receiving the equivalent volume of normal saline .Both groups were treated with ketamine – 3mg/kg with caudal block after 30 mins of premedication.

Inclusion criteria - paediatric patients of age 1-8 years posted for lower abdominal surgeries.

Exclusion criteria – patients with fever, Upper respiratory tract infection, Bilateral Surgeries, Syndromic child, history of increased oral secretions, surgeries more than 1hr duration were excluded. The tympanic temperature of all the patients were recorded pre-operatively for baseline body temperature and at 0, 30, 60, 90 mins post – operatively. The intra-operative quantity of oral secretions in both the groups was measured using VAS score.

Result: The body temperature was significantly higher in Glycopyrrolate group than placebo group at 30, 60, 90 mins post – operatively. The salivation was significantly less in glycopyrrolate group than placebo group.

Conclusion: The routine use of Glycopyrrolate as pre-anaesthetic adjunct with Ketamine should be considered after weighing the risk of post-operative hyperthermia.

Keywords: Anticholinergic Drug; Glycopyrrolate; Ketamine; Salivation; Temperature.