Benefits of ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block for open appendectomy in children

BACKGROUND: One of the most frequently performed emergency surgical procedures in children is an appendectomy. The aim of this study was to determine the benefits of supplementing standard, general anaesthesia with the ultrasound-guided right TAP block. METHODS: We analyzed the medical records of 90 children of both sexes, aged 4-16 years with a body mass of 16-78 kg who underwent general anaesthesia for open appendectomy. Sixty-two individuals were anaesthetized using the standard method, while 28 patients had an additional right-sided TAP block under ultrasound guidance. Subsequently these groups were divided into 2 subgroups: children under 8 years and those older. We evaluated the total consumption of opioids, intraoperative fentanyl requirement, the amount of non-opioid analgesic and antiemetic drugs used during the whole hospitalization, time to recovery of digestive track function and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: TAP block performed under USG guidance reduced the overall consumption of opioids (0.36 vs. 0.42 mg kg⁻¹, P = 0.048), significantly shortened time of fasting after the surgery (17 vs. 29 hours, P = 0.003) as well as reduced the need for antiemetic drugs: ondansetron were used only in 21.4% of children in the group with TAP block vs. 38.7% of children with standard protocol. Additionally, we noted that the application of the TAP block shortened the length of hospitalization (3 vs. 4 days, P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: The application of the TAP block, as a supplementary treatment to standard general anaesthesia for open appendectomy in children is a valuable component of multimodal analgesia, which might improve the quality of life of the patient and shorten the length of hospitalization.