Erector spinae plane block reduces pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

After laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients have moderate pain in the early postoperative period. According to several studies an erector spinae plane (ESP) block can be a valuable part of multimodal analgesia. Our intention was to evaluate how ESP block influences postoperative pain scores and opioid consumption after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

This single-blinded, prospective, randomized study included 60 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy to receive either bilateral ESP block at the Th 7 level (n = 30) with 20 ml of 0.25% levobupivacaine plus dexamethasone 2 mg per side, or standard multimodal analgesia (n = 30). Patients from the standard multimodal analgesia group received tramadol 100 mg at the end of the procedure. Postoperative analgesia for both groups was acetaminophen 1 g/8 h i.v. and ketorolac 30 mg/8 h. Tramadol 1 mg/kg was a rescue treatment for pain breakthrough (numeric rating scale/NRS ≥ 6) in both groups. Pain at rest was recorded at 10 min, 30 min, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after surgery using NRS (0-10).

An ESP block significantly reduced postoperative pain scores compared to standard multimodal analgesia after 10 min (p = 0.011), 30 min (p = 0.004), 2 h (p = 0.011), 4 h (p = 0.003), 8 h (p = 0.013), 12 h (p = 0.004) and 24 h (p = 0.005). Tramadol consumption was significantly lower in the ESP group 25.02 ± 56.8g than in the standard analgesia group 208.3 ± 88.1g (p < 0.001).

An ESP block can provide superior postoperative analgesia and reduction in opioid requirement after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.