Comparison of analgesic efficacy between erector spine plane block and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with morphin after open heart surgery

Pain after cardiac surgery is always an obsession of patients and a top concern of anesthesiologists. Experimental subjects challenged by acute pain and patients in chronic pain experience impairments in attention control, working memory, mental flexibility, problem solving, and information processing speed. The two most commonly used analgesia methods are patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and erector spinea plane block (ESP). Our study aimed to compare the analgesic effect of ESP with PCA in patients after cardiac surgery using extracorporeal circulation and evaluate the disavantages of these two pain relief techniques. Subject and methods: This study was a randomized controlled intervention study of adult patients who underwent open-heart surgery patients with extracorporeal circulation from May 2020 to September 2021 in the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit - Hanoi Heart Hospital. Results: Two hundred and four (204) consecutive patients were collected, included 108 patients in the ESP group and 96 patients in the PCA group. The mean intraoperative fentanyl amount in the ESP group (0.57±0.50 mg) was lower than in the PCA group (1.00±0.00 mg) (p<0.05). The average VAS score when the patient was lying still and taking deep breaths at the time of assessment in both groups was below 3 (corresponding to low pain level) (p>0.05). The mean morphin consumption 24 hours after surgery was significantly lower in the ESP group (0,23±0,12 mg) than in the PCA group (17,92±3,32 mg) (p<0.05). The mean time after surgery in the ESP group (3.80±1.02 hours) and the PCA group (5.21±1.10 hours) had a clear difference between p<0.05. The mean time of extubation in the ESP group (8.06±1.60 hours) was statistically significantly lower than in the PCA group (8.83±1.43 hours) (p<0.05). The rate of nausea in the ESP group (20.98%) was lower than in the PCA group (58.33%) (p<0.05). Conclusion: Both methods had good analgesic effect with an average VAS score ≤ 3. The ESP group had a lower mean postoperative morphine consumption, a higher patient satisfaction level, and a lower rate of nausea, vomiting, and slow breathing statistically significant less than the PCA group.