Opioid-Free Cesarean Section with Bilateral Quadratus Lumborum Catheters

Post-operative pain control following cesarean section delivery (CD) is an important topic of discussion given the lack of consensus on a narcotic-sparing analgesic regimen. We describe the case of an elective CD with narcotic-free pain control using continuous bilateral posterior quadratus lumborum (QL) blockade as the primary mode of analgesia.

The patient is a 36-year-old female, G3P1, who presented at 37 weeks of gestation in active labor scheduled for elective primary CD. A spinal anesthetic was performed at L4-L5 with hyperbaric 0.75% bupivacaine, without intrathecal morphine. Bilateral posterior QL catheters were placed under sterile conditions with 20 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine per side. Continuous infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine was then started at 10 mL/hour per side. The patient's pain was controlled with QL catheters and a multimodal pain regimen consisting of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen. The patient reported a resting pain score of 0 with a dynamic pain score of 3 out of 10 throughout her recovery. She was discharged on post-operative (post-op) day 3 and the catheters were removed without any complications.

The gold standard for pain control following CD is intrathecal morphine; however, its use has many adverse effects. Bilateral single-shot QL blocks following CD have been proven to decrease opioid consumption but its limited duration has minimal advantage over intrathecal morphine and patients continue to require oral narcotics for analgesia. With the use of QL catheters and a multimodal pain regimen, it may be possible to achieve opioid-free CD for the post-op period.