Retrospective Review of Surgeon Administered Transversus Abdominis Plane Blocks at Emergency Caesarean

( Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2025;65(1):135-139. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13871) Postpartum care includes the ability for a mother to care for herself and her newborn comfortably, and effective postcesarean delivery (CD) analgesia is critical. Recently, clinicians have emphasized reducing the use of opiates post-CD due to side effects; one method to do this is long-acting regional nerve block to the transversus abdominis plane (TAP). TAP blocks can be administered in 2 ways, through ultrasound guidance transcutaneously and through a surgical, blind transperitoneal approach. TAP blocks administered by anesthesiologist under ultrasound guidance have been shown as effective with minimal adverse effects. No large studies have addressed the effectiveness of the surgical approach in the context of an emergency CD. This study was designed to assess surgical TAP block and multimodal analgesic use during emergency CD and the effects on surgical time, post-operative analgesic use, and duration of hospital admission.