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Abstract Background: Thoracolumbar spine surgeries need multimodal analgesia to control postoperative pain and early recovery. The study is about comparing the efficacy of bilateral single-shot ultrasound-guided (USG) erector spinae plane block (ESPB) versus local anesthetic infiltration before incision in patients scheduled for spine surgeries under general anesthesia (GA). Aim: This study aimed to compare USG-guided ESPB versus local anesthetic infiltration in spine surgeries for intraoperative and postoperative analgesia. Materials and Methods: Forty patients, the American Society of Anesthesiologists I, II, and III aged 18–80 years, undergoing spine surgeries under GA were enrolled in this prospective, randomized study. Patients were randomized to two groups of 20 each. Group L received GA and local anesthetic infiltration at the incision site by the surgeon and Group E received GA and preoperative bilateral ESPB with 20 mL 0.375% bupivacaine at each site. The primary outcome was the assessment by Numeric Rating Score (NRS) and total postoperative analgesic consumption in the first 24 h. The secondary objectives were intraoperative hemodynamic stability and dexmedetomidine requirement. Results: NRS at 4-h, 6-h, and 12-h postincision was significantly higher in Group L compared to Group E ( P = 0.006, P = 00.001, and P = 00.006). The requirement of intraoperative dexmedetomidine and total doses of postoperative analgesic were significantly lower in Group E compared to Group L ( P = 0.001). Patients who received ESPB showed better hemodynamic stability compared to those who received local anesthetic infiltration at the incision site. Conclusion: Preoperative bilateral single-shot USG-guided ESPB provides safe and effective intraoperative as well as postoperative analgesia for spine surgeries with reduced analgesic requirement.
Puntambekar et al. (Wed,) studied this question.