Postoperative Pain Control by Intercostal Nerve Block After Augmentation Mammoplasty

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Anesthesiology
• Pain Management

Background:

• Breast augmentation with implants often causes severe postoperative pain.
• Pain arises from breast tissue and pectoralis major muscle expansion.
• Intercostal nerve block (ICNB) is explored for pain relief.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of ICNB in reducing postoperative pain.
• To compare pain scores between ICNB and control groups after augmentation mammoplasty.

Main Methods:

• Forty-four female patients participated in the study.
• 34 patients received ICNB with 0.2% ropivacaine in intercostal spaces before waking from general anesthesia.
• Pain was assessed using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores at multiple time points.

Main Results:

• The ICNB group showed significantly lower VAS scores compared to the control group at all measured times.
• VAS scores decreased over time in both groups, but the reduction was more pronounced in the ICNB group.
• A significant difference in pain reduction was observed between 30 and 60 minutes post-procedure.

Conclusions:

• ICNB administered before waking from anesthesia effectively reduces postoperative pain after breast augmentation.
• This pain reduction can potentially shorten the time to patient discharge.
• ICNB is a viable method for managing pain following augmentation mammoplasty with implants.