The Effect of Erector Spinae Plane Block on Postoperative Pain Following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Randomized Controlled Study

Objective: Erector spinae plane block (ESP) is a novel technique for postoperative pain management. Primary aim of this study is to evaluate efficacy of ultrasound -guided ESP for providing postoperative analgesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) procedures. Methods: Forty-six ASA I-II patients aged 20-70, who were scheduled to undergo elective LC were included in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups as ESP and Control group. Patients in the ESP group received ultrasound (US)guided ESP block with 20 ml 0.25% bupivacaine. An intravenous patient-controlled analgesia device containing morphine was provided for all the patients in both groups. Morphine consumptions at postoperative 24th hour and postoperative numeric rating scale (NRS) scores for pain were recorded. Results: Mean morphine consumptions at postoperative 24th hour were 7.5 mg±5.8 in the ESP group while it was 13.2±5.6 mg in the control group (p<0.01). There was also a significant difference between the groups as for NRS scores at 12th and 24th hours (p=0.016, p=0.003 respectively). None of the patients in the ESP group complained about shoulder pain; but in the control group 9 patients reported shoulder pain. Conclusion: This study has shown that ESP block at T8 level has reduced the opioid consumption and showed a significant analgesic effect in patients undergoing LC.