Effects of Thoracic Erector Spinae Plane Blockade on Acute and Chronic Pain After Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)

Overview

This is a prospective randomized study intended to assess the efficacy of erector spinae plane analgesia on acute and chronic postoperative pain for VATS procedures. It will include 72 patients presenting to Severance hospital for a VATS procedure. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive either ESP block and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) or IV PCA only. Ropivacaine will be used in nerve block, and injected at the end of surgery. The primary outcome will be to compare analgesic efficacy between the two groups as defined by immediate postoperative pain scores on the numeric pain rating scale. Secondary outcomes include total opioid consumption, painDETECT score, and chronic pain scores.

Postoperative pain control for thoracic surgery is key to allow faster recovery and diminish postoperative complications. Poorly controlled acute pain may contribute to the impairment of respiratory function and the development of chronic post-thoracotomy pain. Recently, an increasing number of erector spinae plane (ESP) nerve blocks are being performed as it has been demonstrated, and via case reports that the blocks provide clinical effectiveness, but may have a better side-effect profile than the paravertebral nerve block and epidural analgesia. Moreover, there is an advantage for novice because ESP block is simpler and safer to proceed than conventional nerve blocks.

Conditions